Ukraine's security service alleges Russian plot involving ex-president

File photo: Ukrainian former President Petro Poroshenko, who is suspected of high treason by financing pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine while in office in 2014-2015, addresses his supporters outside a court building before a hearing in Kyiv, Ukraine January 19, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File photo

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's security service said on Saturday it had prevented former president Petro Poroshenko from leaving the country on grounds that Russia planned to exploit a planned meeting with Hungary's prime minister to hurt Ukrainian interests.

Poroshenko's political party, European Solidarity, said the former president had scheduled only meetings in Poland and the United States and warned the SBU security service against becoming involved in politics.