Tymoshenko sharply criticized the West in an interview with The Times

Western countries “used the war to undermine Ukraine’s independence” through a system of external control by bodies such as NABU and SAPO.

This was stated by Batkivshchyna party leader Yulia Tymoshenko in an interview with The Times.

“Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Western countries — under the threat of suspending loans — have imposed unacceptable control over Ukraine’s state institutions, state-owned banks, and monopolies, undermining the country’s sovereignty. This is cruel and unjust toward a nation at war,” Tymoshenko said.

The outlet noted that “this statement is perhaps the harshest criticism of the West by the leader of a Ukrainian political party since the war began in 2022.”

According to The Times, Tymoshenko’s argument that Ukraine’s sovereignty is under threat is mainly based on the participation of Western experts in advisory groups that select candidates for key positions — in the Constitutional Court, the High Council of Justice, the State Customs Service, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Accounting Chamber, as well as anti-corruption bodies.

Tymoshenko argued that such international oversight might be appropriate in countries like Afghanistan, Liberia, or Sierra Leone — but not in Ukraine.

“Ukraine is not a failed state, as the Kremlin tries to portray it. We are a sovereign European nation heroically resisting full-scale aggression and defending Europe’s values with weapons in hand. We are not Afghanistan,” she said.

“Don’t tell us that Ukrainians can die for peace in Europe but supposedly cannot govern their own country. Our Western friends had no right to expect that, at one of the most difficult moments in our nation’s history, Ukraine would pay for aid or loans with its sovereignty,” Tymoshenko added, noting that she opposed the restoration of NABU’s powers.

She rejected the suggestion that her rhetoric plays into the Kremlin’s hands, saying that “the real source of Kremlin propaganda is the actions of the West.”

“Our Western friends must not give Putin reasons to say such things,” she stressed.

Tymoshenko also blamed the West for the start of the war in Ukraine — because Ukraine had not been admitted to NATO before the invasion.

“For today’s war — for the dead and maimed, for destroyed Ukrainian cities and villages, for the suffering of millions — those Western leaders who voted against granting Ukraine a Membership Action Plan (in 2008) also bear responsibility,” she said.