President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy allowed the possibility of exchanging with Russia the head of the political council of the Opposition Platform for Life party Viktor Medvedchuk. He stated this on the air of the ICTV channel, reports RIA News…
Zelensky, when asked by the host about whether there were any proposals from Moscow to leave Medvedchuk alone, replied: “There were no direct things.” The President emphasized that the head of the Political Council of the OLE is a citizen of Ukraine and Ukrainian legislation applies to him. At the same time, according to him, he would gladly take the opportunity to betray the politician if Medvedchuk had Russian citizenship.
The Ukrainian leader added that in this case, even a hint from Moscow about his presence would be enough to exchange the politician for “real heroes and citizens of Ukraine who are not in Ukraine.”
New charges in the case of high treason and aiding terrorism were brought against Medvedchuk, who has been under house arrest since mid-May, October 8. His arrest was extended until December 7, 2021. According to the prosecutor’s office, after the outbreak of the war in Donbass, Ukraine, against the backdrop of an acute energy crisis, decided to buy coal from South Africa, but Moscow tried to prevent the implementation of these contracts in order to prevent “the strengthening of the energy independence of Kiev.”
The deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Renat Kuzmin, commenting on Zelensky’s statement about the possibility of exchanging Medvedchuk, said that the head of the political council of the OLE party was taken hostage in order to blackmail Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The parliamentarian also suggested that the Ukrainian politician could be exchanged for cheap gas or coal.
At the same time, expert Kenneth Rapoza expressed the opinion on the pages of Forbes magazine that Medvedchuk’s arrest on suspicion of high treason and terrorist activities without a criminal investigation clearly shows Zelensky’s intention to liquidate the opposition at any cost.
Raposa linked the persecution of political rivals to the promotion of the law on oligarchs, which is now under consideration by the Venice Commission. This law, according to the expert, will become a tool for delivering political blows to competitors through individual sanctions without trial. The authoritarianism of the Ukrainian authorities, the political scientist added, led to a serious gas crisis that could further undermine people’s confidence in Zelensky.
In Russia, the extension of the arrest of Medvedchuk was also considered a settlement of accounts with competitors.
Peskov stressed that Moscow strongly condemns this practice. He also noted that until recently, Medvedchuk was rapidly strengthening his political positions in the country.
Medvedchuk himself believes that the new case on the supply of coal from the territories of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass was fabricated by the Ukrainian authorities in order to distract the public from Zelensky’s offshore scandals. In particular, he noted that the audio recordings presented by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) as evidence of the politician’s guilt are montage. In addition, Medvedchuk added, the Ukrainian leadership is thus seeking to hide the pressing social problems, including heating and gas tariffs.