Georgian TV channel publishes letter from Poroshenko to Russian FSB
On Saturday evening the Georgian TV channel Rustavi 2, which is closely connected to Mikheil Saakashvili, former Georgian president and leader of the Movement of New Forces party in Ukraine, disclosed a letter addressed to the FSB, supposedly signed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in 2007. The Presidential Administration published a statement refuting the authenticity of document in a matter of hours. The TV channel insists that the letter is authentic, and proposes that it be subjected to an expert examination.
Rustavi 2 released photos dated to the evening of January 13, 2007. At that time, Poroshenko was a regular member of parliament. In the documents, Poroshenko supposedly “promises not to act against Russia’s interests” and also “to rigorously comply with Russian legislation, not to participate in activity directed against Russia’s interests”.
A second document has also been published in which Poroshenko supposedly claims that it is unnecessary to ban him from entering Russia: “… since I have nothing to do with President Yushchenko’s anti-Russian campaign. I was one of the founders of the Party of Regions. I am acting in Russia’s interests by attracting major investments into the Roshen factories (Lipetsk province) and Bogdan (Nizhny Novgorod province). I am creating and providing jobs for Russians” Poroshenko allegedly wrote.
In one of the scans of the documents, the date is visible as February 3, 2007. On that day, Poroshenko was denied entry into Russia. In 2007, the Russian foreign minister said that the ban on Poroshenko’s entry was a response to Ukraine’s hostile actions.
Poroshenko’s Presidential Administration responded to the Georgian TV channel’s report within hours, stating that the documents are “shoddy forgeries and fakes, fabricated and given to the TV company Rustavi 2 by the Russian intelligence agency”.
The president’s press service drew attention to the fact that in 2007, his son Olexiy was not yet married.
“The most eloquent testimony to the FSB’s failure is a fact which can easily be verified. Olexiy Poroshenko was married in Kyiv in September 2013, and thus Petro Poroshenko’s wife eldest son had no wife in 2007,” the Ukrainian president’s press service explained.
As is well known from the media, Poroshenko’s son Olexiy met his wife-to-be Yulia Alikhanova during his studies at the international school INSEAD between 2011 and 2012. It is thus unlikely that they knew each other in 2007.
The TV channel maintains that the documents are genuine. Nodar Meladze, director of Rustavi 2’s information services stated that they received the photos from a “confidential source” whom he refused to name.
The TV channel noted that it possesses only the photographs, and does not have the original documents.
Meladze emphasized that if anyone has doubts regarding the authenticity of the statements, they should subject the documents to a graphological examination.