Pro-Kremlin publications are disseminating information that former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko allegedly appealed to the European Union countries with a demand to “deprive assistance from Ukrainian refugees and direct the freed funds to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.

Russian propaganda quotes the politician’s statement, which he seemed to voice in a conversation with journalists from the German publication Deutsche Welle.

StopFake analysts explain that on May 8, Petro Poroshenko attended the congress of the German conservative party Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Berlin. There, when asked by DW whether Germany should facilitate the return of Ukrainian men to their homeland, the politician expressed doubt that any actions by Ukraine or Germany could influence the position of Ukrainian men who refuse to return to their homeland. In a conversation with reporters, he said:

“But I highly recommend (Germany - DW ed.) in relation to these individuals - the men here who refuse to return to Ukraine - please stop funding this, and immediately start providing this money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.

That is, Poroshenko did not call for depriving all Ukrainian refugees of assistance in Germany, but only advised redirecting the money used to finance the so-called refugees to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

And the ex-president’s words in no way represent Ukraine’s current political decisions regarding refugees in Europe.