© Reuters. File photo: Ukrainian former President Petro Poroshenko, who is suspected of high treason by financing pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine while in office in 2014-2015, addresses his supporters outside a court building before a hearing in Kyiv, Ukr
By Max Hunder
KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s security service said on Saturday it had prevented former president Petro Poroshenko from leaving the country on grounds that Russia planned to exploit a planned meeting with Hungary’s prime minister to hurt Ukrainian interests.
Poroshenko’s political party, European Solidarity, said the former president had scheduled only meetings in Poland and the United States and warned the SBU security service against becoming involved in politics.
Poroshenko was turned away at a border post on Friday.
The SBU said he had planned to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who maintains ties with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and opposes opening talks on European Union membership with Ukraine.
An SBU statement said Russia was preparing a series of “provocations” to discredit Ukraine among its foreign allies as the war against Russia stretches beyond 21 months.
It provided no…
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