Ukrainian MP Honcharenko expelled from European Solidarity faction over calls for concessions to Russia

Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko has been expelled from the European Solidarity parliamentary faction following his calls for negotiations with Russia and significant concessions to Moscow in an effort to end the war, the party’s press service said.

“Oleksii Honcharenko’s public positions on ending the war and Ukraine’s future security architecture differ from those of European Solidarity and its ideological principles,” the party said in a statement.

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

Late last week, Honcharenko published a lengthy social media post arguing that continuing the war was futile and posed an extreme danger to Ukraine, and that Kyiv should therefore consider significant concessions to Russia in pursuit of peace.

Among the proposals he raised were discussions with Moscow over Ukraine’s neutral status and abandoning its bid to join NATO, the possible easing of some sanctions against Russia, as well as territorial, language and religious issues.