The Eastern Orthodox Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, Part 4

"In negotiations with the Greeks in Constantinople, emperor John VIII [d. 1448] had to choose between two rival Councils for corporate reunion with the West. The Conciliarists at Basel wished to slight Pope Eugenius IV and receive the Greek contingent there. However, the Orthodox tradition was too conscious of the traditional presence of the Pope of Rome at an Ecumenical Council. As such, it was [sic!] beyond their ecclesiology to seriously consider convoking a Council that intentionally excluded the virtual presence of the Pope."

-- Fr. Christiaan Kappes, The Immaculate Conception (2014), p. 14.