Ukraine's ex-President prevented from leaving country in alleged political sabotage

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was not permitted to leave the country, potentially linked to his planned meeting with Hungarian PM Viktor Orban.

As disclosed by Poroshenko himself on his X social media account, despite having had a document signed by the Chairman of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, he was not allowed to cross the border and was not permitted to go abroad for international meetings.

According to Poroshenko, he had planned to travel to Poland to help negotiate an end to a truckers' blockade and then to the United States to build support for Ukraine's war effort.

 "This is an anti-Ukrainian diversion," Poroshenko wrote. "It is not just the hampering of my entire team's diplomatic work, but unfortunately a blow to Ukraine's defence capabilities."

According to the New Voice of Ukraine, though, the ban was imposed to stop the former president from attending an unofficial meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is planning to block negotiations for Ukraine's entry into the European Union and the allocation of EUR 50 billion in financial aid to Kyiv.

Citing an unnamed government source, the publication reported that the Ukrainian leadership believes that a meeting between Poroshenko and Orban could further damage Ukraine-Hungary relations, which are currently in a crisis.