Former President of Ukraine and leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko called on the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada to lift the ban on deputies traveling abroad, as this is an obstacle to their diplomatic work. He stated this on January 10 in a video posted on the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian TV channel «First».

«The leadership of the parliament should cancel the disgusting and illegal orders on blocking the departure of deputies and the formation of permanent delegations of inter-parliamentary associations. This is a criminal offense of obstructing inter—parliamentary diplomacy,» he said.

Poroshenko also stressed that his faction demands immediate consideration of a number of issues, for example, a bill banning the activities of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In addition, in his opinion, the parliament needs to consider a draft law on coordinating with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) the appointment and dismissal of commanders.

In addition, Poroshenko pointed out that the Verkhovna Rada should lift the ban on broadcasting meetings and let journalists into the lobby so as not to hide the truth from the people.

Earlier, on December 1, Petro Poroshenko said that the Ukrainian border service did not allow him to leave the country. According to the former Ukrainian leader, he intended to hold «dozens of meetings» in Poland and the United States. In particular, he planned to discuss with the Polish side the lifting of the blockade for carriers on the border of the two countries, and with the American side the provision of military assistance to Kiev, the former president of Ukraine said.