"Remember, Putin is a KGB agent. He is a specialist in this kind of thing," opposition politician Poroshenko told Politico.
In negotiations, Putin has demanded that Russia be allowed to take control of Ukrainian areas he has not managed to capture militarily.
But the Russian demand is rather a tool to "attempt to destabilize the internal political situation in Ukraine," Poroshenko says. The former president, who was Volodymyr Zelenskyy's predecessor, warns that territorial concessions decided in a referendum would divide Ukraine.
Petro Poroshenko won the 2014 presidential election after protests that forced pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych to flee to Russia.
