MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th August, 2018) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Friday that pro-European reforms in the country were under threat because of the 2019 presidential elections, an event that would give Russia an opportunity to meddle in Ukraine's affairs.
According to the Financial Times newspaper, Poroshenko said that during his term he managed to put the country on a pro-European path by adopting a series of reforms.
"It is because of the presidential election that all these reform processes are in danger ... The reform processes are not irreversible and thats why they are in danger. Why? Because of Russia. Russia has taken enormous steps, in conditions of hybrid war, to return Ukraine to its sphere of influence," Poroshenko was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
The presidential elections are set to take place in March 2019. Poroshenko has not yet announced whether he will run for a second term.
"The involvement of Russia in the election process is enormous � by cyber war, by using social media, by using television stations and by supporting political forces whether they be leftist, rightist, pro-Russian or nationalist," Poroshenko added, as quoted by the newspaper.
The relations between Ukraine and Russia have been tense ever since the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, and subsequent conflict between the new Ukrainian authorities and Donbas. Kiev has repeatedly accused Russia of interfering in the country's internal affairs and supporting the militias in the east of Ukraine, with Moscow denying all accusations and insisting that it did not partake in the conflict.
Moscow has already been accused of meddling in an election, with the United States claiming that Russia hacked the networks of the Democratic Party during the 2016 presidential campaign in an attempt to influence the vote in favor of then Republican candidate Donald Trump. The Kremlin has denied all allegations, arguing that no evidence has been provided by the United States to substantiate the claims.
