Former Ukrainian leader Poroshenko stated that current leader Volodymyr Zelenski is leading the country to dictatorship. Speaking to BILD newspaper in the capital city of Kiev, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko criticized his successor, accusing him of “leading the nation towards dictatorship as an unhappy leader of a team.” However, he emphasized that Ukraine is not Russia and they will not allow the establishment of a dictatorship in Ukraine. Poroshenko, currently seen as the biggest political rival of Zelenski in Ukraine, faced sanctions. Leading the country from 2014 to 2019, Poroshenko, the leader of the largest opposition party called “European Solidarity,” is currently under sanctions, preventing him from leaving the country and accessing his assets. Describing the sanctions against himself and his party as an “attack on freedom and democracy,” Poroshenko claimed that the charges of “betrayal of the country” against him are politically motivated to silence him as a rival to Zelenski. Asserting that the trial against him is an “attack on his country’s future in Europe” due to the severely violated principle of the rule of law, Poroshenko stated that the current situation is vital for their European integration. Moreover, he criticized the lack of any court decision in the face of the sanctions, highlighting that he is the only political leader facing sanctions without any explanation. Poroshenko deemed the situation as “completely absurd, illegal, and a criminal violation of the law.” Additionally, after the dispute with Zelenski, it was alleged that allies of Trump had meetings with prominent figures of the Ukrainian opposition, including former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and a member of the party of former President Petro Poroshenko.