Former lawmaker Murayev says Ukraine needs new leaders

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian lawmaker Yevhen Murayev attends a session of parliament, Verkhovna Rada, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 25, 2019. Picture taken November April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Vladislav Musienko

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian former lawmaker Yevhen Murayev, who Britain named this weekend as a potential candidate chosen by the Kremlin to lead Ukraine after a military offensive, said in a Facebook post that the country needs new leaders.

Murayev had earlier poured cold water on Britain's assertion that Russia wants to install him as Ukraine's leader. In his Facebook post, he called for an end to dividing Ukraine into pro-Western and pro-Russian politicians.

"The time of pro-Western and pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine is gone forever," he said. "Ukraine needs new politicians whose policy will be based solely on the principles of the national interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people."

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets and Matthias Williams; Editing by Frances Kerry)