Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday called for a more flexible approach to diplomatic relations after Ukraine’s dispute with the United States and offered to visit foreign capitals to improve the country’s position.
Poroshenko was president from 2014 to 2019 and is currently the leader of the opposition in parliament. He is a political rival of incumbent President Volodymyr Zelensky, who defeated him by a large margin in the 2019 elections.
“He said Zelenskiy must stop” “stadium behavior” “with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called Ukrainian leader Zelenskiy” “a dictator without elections” “who remains in power beyond the end of his term and refuses to take a vote on the war.”
“This kind of fighting does not work for Ukraine, no matter how obvious the logic,” he said in a video message.
“Negotiations with Trump require diplomatic skills, patience and calm, not reacting to his every statement,” Poroshenko said, standing in front of a military convoy.
He said members of parliament could help with diplomatic initiatives.
“I am ready to go to Brussels or even Washington to save the situation,” he said. “And there have to be some other experts and parliamentarians, who have authority in society. “
He also said the authorities had tried to stop opposition MPs planning to travel abroad so as to improve Ukraine’s diplomacy.
Poroshenko did not criticise the election failure, saying: “As long as there is no peace, there can be no elections. “
He renewed calls for the establishment of a national unity government and an end to the “monopoly” of the president’s office and political parties.
In Kiev on Thursday, Zelensky told the U.S. envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, that Ukraine is ready to work with the U.S. to quickly build a strong and beneficial agreement.
Zelensky’s verbal confrontation with Trump began when U.S. and Russian officials were holding preliminary talks on ending the nearly three-year-old war — Ukraine was not invited — and rejected a U.S. proposal to develop rare earths within Ukraine.
Poroshenko has been subject to government sanctions for security reasons over the past week, including an asset freeze and a ban on withdrawing capital out of the country.
He is under investigation on a variety of charges, including allegations of helping Russian-backed separatists in 2014 and a scandal over the corruption of military supplies.