Tymoshenko is ready to fight with Russia to the bitter end
Yulia Tymoshenko gave an interview to the Washington Post, in which she criticizes the current president of Ukraine for being unpatriotic and states that peace in Donbass will be achieved “not on Putin’s terms,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Tymoshenko categorically denies accusations of being “pro-Russian.”
“The theory that I have a special relationship with Putin was first started by Paul Manafor back in 2006-2007. Prosecutor [Robert] Mueller released documents showing Manafort received millions of dollars to discredit me. This was part of his work for Yanukovych. The current President of Ukraine [Petro Poroshenko] mainly uses the arguments created by Manafort and his team.
You know very well that the pro-Russian President Yanukovych put me in prison. If I was pro-Russian, and Putin told Yanukovych not to put me in prison, Yanukovych would never have done it.
The purpose of these false fabrications is to discredit me before the elections. But people don’t believe them,” she said.
In turn, Tymoshenko accused Poroshenko of having a business in Russia and paying taxes there.
“I don’t have a business in Russia or Ukraine, but Poroshenko does. People cannot understand how this man can be so patriotic when his business in Russia pays taxes of over $100 million a year [in Russia]. That’s why today he has a maximum of 10 percent support,” she said.
The conflict in Donbass, according to Tymoshenko, can only be resolved with the complete restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
“We do not want so-called peace if it is achieved through the capitulation of Ukraine. We cannot accept peace on Putin's terms. We believe that peace can be achieved with the complete restoration of the territory of Ukraine,” Tymoshenko emphasized.
Since this will be difficult to achieve, the West must increase pressure on Russia and provide Ukraine with lethal weapons.
“Sanctions and pressure on Putin. More sanctions. Moreover, we must have a very strong defense sector in our army, including obtaining more accurate defensive lethal weapons,” Tymoshenko said. She also once again confirmed the immutability of her pro-Western vector. “I see Ukraine in the future as a member of the European Union and a full member of NATO,” she said.
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