The leader of European Solidarity, Petro Poroshenko, said that President Volodymyr Zelensky is leading Ukraine towards dictatorship.
He said this in an interview with the German publication BILD.
"He is the unfortunate leader of a team that is moving the nation towards dictatorship. But Ukraine is not Russia, and we will not allow a dictatorship to arise in Ukraine. This is a big difference ," Poroshenko said.
He called the sanctions against him and his party "an attack on freedom and democracy."
"This is also an attack on our European future, because the rule of law, which is now being brutally violated, is crucial for our European integration ," the country's fifth president believes.
At the same time, Poroshenko was unable to answer the question of why he was under sanctions: " I am the only political leader, the only opposition leader who fell under sanctions without any explanation. What is happening here is unconstitutional, illegal, there is no court decision. This is just a very stupid, illegal, criminal violation of the law ."
Poroshenko believes that Zelensky is afraid of the current political situation and therefore wants to "get rid of all competitors."
When asked by a journalist whether US President Donald Trump was right in some of his accusations against Zelensky and Ukraine, Poroshenko said: " If you ask me about dictatorship, the answer is unequivocal - the dictator is Putin. But this is absolutely unacceptable when Ukraine is moving towards the limits of democracy and freedom, when attacks are being made on local self-government, when the opposition leader is being attacked and subjected to illegal and unconstitutional persecution. This must be stopped immediately, not because it concerns me, but because we must maintain unity. And unity is a decisive, very powerful factor in stopping Putin ."
Recall, in February, Trump called Zelensky "a dictator without elections."