Poroshenko: Ukraine should not be humiliated by Putin's narrative on presidential legitimacy

He made this statement in the Verkhovna Rada, as reported by Espreso correspondent Kateryna Halko.  

Poroshenko emphasized that the current priority is supporting the Ukrainian army, including through parliamentary efforts. According to him, the situation with the unity of international partners is challenging, and in such circumstances, "attempting to shift responsibility for one's own mistakes onto our partners significantly harms unity." He pointed out that Americans act based on American interests, and Europeans based on European interests, so Kyiv's task is to prove that supporting Ukraine aligns with both American and European interests.  

"And secondly, we should not humiliate the country with Putin's narrative that the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government and president needs to be supported and confirmed through a parliamentary vote. Our political party's position is clear: we have never questioned and do not question the legitimacy of Ukraine's government, including the president. The second point—there is no need to humiliate the country by having local councils vote to support the president’s legitimacy. This only harms Ukraine and the president," Poroshenko stated.

He emphasized that Ukraine must be strong in negotiations, which requires ensuring both external and internal unity. One step toward this is overcoming the parliamentary crisis.  

"Today, we are taking a decisive step. The European Solidarity faction is suspending its blockade of parliament, allowing votes on European laws, IMF-related laws, and, most importantly, laws supporting the army—including personal income tax (PIT) allocations, increasing the military budget, protecting servicemen, and setting clear service term limits. For this, we hope to form a national unity coalition, a national unity government, and reset the authorities. I am confident that we are moving in the right direction," Poroshenko stated.

• Ukraine will not consider recognizing the legitimacy of Alexander Lukashenko following the so-called presidential elections in Belarus.