Ukrainian MP expelled from Poroshenko faction after calling for concessions to Russia

Ukrainian MP Oleksii Honcharenko has been expelled from the European Solidarity parliamentary faction after publicly calling for negotiations with Russia and saying Ukraine should consider significant concessions to end the war.

The faction said Honcharenko’s public positions on ending the war and Ukraine’s future security architecture were incompatible with the party’s position and ideological principles. 

European Solidarity said compromises could form part of a process to end the war, but insisted that Ukraine’s independence, European future, national identity and right to determine its own security arrangements could not be subject to concessions.

Honcharenko published a lengthy post late last week arguing that continuing the war was pointless and extremely dangerous for Ukraine and that Kyiv should be prepared to make significant concessions to Russia in the interests of peace. He has also proposed negotiations on issues including Ukraine’s neutrality and the gradual lifting of sanctions against Russia.

The faction said the decision to expel Honcharenko did not erase the years of political cooperation between him and European Solidarity, but that differences over fundamental questions about Ukraine’s future had made it impossible to continue working together. 

Honcharenko is now a non-factional member of Ukraine’s parliament.