February 21 ------ Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for a softer approach to diplomacy with the United States after a spat between Kyiv and Washington and offered to visit foreign capitals to improve the country's standing. Poroshenko was president from 2014 to 2019 and is now the opposition leader in parliament. He remains a political rival to current President Volodymyr Zelensky, who beat him by a landslide in a 2019 election.
He said Zelensky should stop "stadium behavior" in dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump, who branded the Ukrainian leader a "dictator without elections" for staying in power beyond his mandate and refusing to call a wartime election. "This form of combat does not work in Ukraine's favor, however eloquent the arguments may be," he said in a video message. "Discussion with Trump requires diplomatic mastery, patience and calm so as not to react to his every statement," Poroshenko said, standing alongside a row of military vehicles. Parliamentarians, he said, could help with diplomacy. "I am ready to go to Brussels or even Washington to save the situation," he said. "And there should be other experts and parliamentarians with authority in society."
Authorities, he said, had tried to block plans by opposition parliamentarians to travel abroad to boost Ukraine's diplomacy. Poroshenko offered no criticism of the failure to hold an election, saying it could not be done "while there is no peace". He issued a new call for the creation of a coalition government of national union and an end to the "monopoly" of the president's office and political party in the country.
Source: reuters.com
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