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Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has declared that Ukrainian land is not for sale “at any price.” Poroshenko stressed that Ukraine needs internal and international unity to survive and that it can “never return” to being a “Russian colony.”
" We confirm unequivocally that Ukrainian territory is not for sale, for any price. Also, there can be no compromise on the reports of demands for limiting the size of Ukraine's armed forces ," he said.
Specifically to Trump, Poroshenko tried to be diplomatic, saying that Ukraine had worked well with the US president for years and praised him for bringing in some of the first sanctions against Russia.
But he added that negotiations on Ukraine must include Ukraine, and so must negotiations on NATO.
" Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. The first step to peace continues to be a ceasefire. No one can be against a ceasefire. Russia understands only one language – this is not the Russian language, this is the language of force ," Poroshenko said.
He also called for more air defense and other aid for Ukraine. Poroshenko was also asked about the ongoing corruption scandal in Ukraine, and he said it was "no secret" that he disliked the current president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
"Only internal unity can save our nation. Only international unity can save our nation ," he said, praising the anti-corruption institutions, which he said he established himself.
But who is Petro Poroshenko?
Ukraine's fifth president, Poroshenko, was in office from 2014 to 2019, when he lost the last presidential election to Volodymyr Zelensky in a landslide victory.
His time in office was characterized by conflict with Russia throughout - he was elected two months after the illegal annexation of Crimea, was in charge during Russian offensives in the Donbas region, and in 2018 declared martial law due to the threat of a "full-scale war" with Russia.
Poroshenko also adopted a number of reforms to combat corruption; the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), which is now investigating suspected corruption in the energy sector, was established in 2014 under his presidency.
Before coming to power, Poroshenko was a businessman and created UkrPromInvest (Ukrainian Industry and Investment Company).
He was listed as a billionaire by Forbes in March 2012. Years later, he denied tax evasion after it emerged that he had been named in the "Paradise" and "Panama Papers" scandals.
Poroshenko was first elected to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) in 1998, before becoming foreign minister in 2009 and campaigning for president following protests and uprisings in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014.
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