"At beginning of war, at Zelenskyy’s request, I contacted number of people in Russia for negotiations in Gomel," - oligarch Novinskyi
Former MP and oligarch Vadym Novynskyi said that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had allegedly personally asked him to contact a number of people in the Russian Federation at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.
He posted this on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.
"Today, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, allowed himself to make a rude slanderous attack on me, saying: "Ukraine has received many times ultimatums from Russia, specifically from Putin. This began after Mr Medvedchuk's people, Novinskyi - all of this is available, there are relevant witnesses, records, and so on - represented Putin's interests, speaking directly to me, on the phone, at the most difficult moment, when we were under blockade, telling us how to surrender the territories, the country, and so on, where I should go, otherwise I would not be there, my family would not be there. So it's a long, long story. There were a lot of such ultimatums, when someone representing the interests of Russia, namely Putin, gave the appropriate signals. So, all these people communicated with Putin and really wanted to represent the interests of Ukraine."
At the same time, information resources controlled by the Office of the President began to spread information that at the beginning of the war I allegedly persuaded Mr Zelenskyy to surrender," he said.
Novinsky stated that he "did not conduct any negotiations during the war, as negotiations require a certain mandate and cannot be conducted by anyone".
"I would like to remind Mr Zelenskyy that in the first days of the war, at his personal request and with the knowledge of the heads of the security forces and his inner circle, I did contact a number of people in the Russian Federation, coordinating all my actions with the President of Ukraine, helping to organise the negotiation process between the Ukrainian and Russian groups in Gomel.
There was no talk of any offer of escape, surrender or other actions on my part - the subject of discussion was exclusively the negotiation framework preceding the meeting between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia," he added.
Novynskyi noted that he has the right to demand that the recordings of his telephone conversations with Zelenskyy and other participants in the process, his position and his proposals "be made public - without bills and distortions".
"In this situation, I believe that Volodymyr Zelenskyy has committed absolute rudeness and outright slander against me. Throughout this time, I did not want to mention many unpleasant moments associated with the country's top leadership in the early days of the war, but Mr Zelensky's statements force me to reveal certain details that do not do honour to him or many people around him.
In the near future, I will decide how and when I will make public the data I have witnessed. I also reserve the right to file a lawsuit against Volodymyr Zelenskyy to protect my honour and dignity from the rude and false accusations against me," he concluded.
Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Medvedchuk and Novinskyi's people "represented Putin's interests by speaking directly to me on the phone at the most difficult moment when we were under blockade".
