The world must not be afraid of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he must be punished for the invasion of Ukraine, the country's former president, Petro Poroshenko, said in a Newsmax interview Friday.
"I want to say that we want to see Putin in the Hague, behind the bars," said Poroshenko on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." And I have two recommendations to the whole world. Don't be afraid of Putin and don't trust him — keep the unity. This is the way we can win this war."
Saturday will mark the 150th day of the war in Ukraine, and Poroshenko said Friday that he has several recommendations for bringing the conflict to the end, including for the "whole world to stop buying Russian energy, Russia oil, and Russian gas, all Russian products starting from coal."
When Russia's energy is bought, "every single penny, if you pay, goes to buying the bombs and [for] shelling against Ukraine," he said.
Poroshenko also called on keeping the anti-Putin coalition strong.
"And I want to thank the great leadership of the United States, yes, President Joe Biden, and their partners, including Great Britain and the European Union for introducing sanctions [and] the embargo and many other things," Poroshenko said.
"It is our common mission to stop this war this year. The Ukrainian armed forces and Ukrainian volunteers are doing the maximum we can to defend our territory [and defend] the whole Western world."
Meanwhile, "hundreds of drones" are going to the Ukrainian armed forces, as "this is the war of drones," said Poroshenko. "It is a war of artillery, a war of timers, a war of electronic warfare systems, a war of missiles, but not a war of troops … we need a victory of the whole world against dictatorship and the barbarian Russian army."
Poroshenko said he has not left Kyiv since the first hours of the war, and he wanted to deliver the message that "Ukrainian soldiers are heroes" but if they are to win, "we need three things: weapons, weapons, and weapons."
Poroshenko said he "definitely" wants to return to politics, and has a dream to be elected as a member of the European Union Parliament, once Ukraine becomes a member.
"I have another dream for future membership of Ukraine in NATO," he said, adding that he is "confident" that will happen.
However, he would not commit to politically supporting current Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"I fully support Ukraine, and I fully support the unity of all Ukraine," said Poroshenko. "All politics will be after the war … we are all now soldiers, and everybody should understand that."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.