Public activists and representatives of various public organizations appealed to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with a demand not to approve the results of a possible peace agreement with Russia at an all-Ukrainian referendum, since this is unacceptable, contrary to the Constitution of Ukraine and threatens the national interests of our country, noted Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the VIII convocation, Chairman of the Network for the Protection of National Interests of the ANTS Anna Gopko.

It is indicated that the approval of international treaties does not require a referendum; only parliament has such powers. Gopko notes that parliament can call a referendum only if it approves an agreement on changing the territory of our country.

“We cannot allow that the president or his authorized representatives will conclude an agreement that will encroach on the territorial integrity of our state and provide for the renunciation of part of its sovereign territory,” the statement said..

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the issue of approving a possible peace treaty with the Russian Federation through a referendum is removed from the agenda;

prevent Ukrainian representatives from agreeing and signing provisions of international agreements that contradict the Constitution and Ukrainian legislation, in particular regarding obligations to hold referendums.

Social activists called on the president and parliament to refrain from any attempts to proclaim a referendum in violation of the requirements of Article 72 of the Constitution of Ukraine due to the fact that this is illegal and will have unpredictable destructive consequences.

Gopko recalled that the powers of the president, according to the Constitution, include calling a referendum only if changes are made to sections I, III, XIII of the Basic Law (after the decision is approved by 300 deputies of the Rada) or to proclaim a referendum on popular initiative. She adds that the latter can only take place if citizens collect more than three million signatures on issues that they themselves formulate, and not the signatories of an international treaty or the head of state.

Activists say an attempt to approve a compromise peace treaty in a referendum would undermine sovereignty and national unity. Social activists draw attention to the fact that the Russian Federation will interfere in the discussion process and influence the referendum vote.

“Using the space of open public discussion and using tools of armed blackmail, Russians will inevitably use the referendum to escalate confrontation in Ukrainian society,” public activists point out..

It is noted that after the onset of security conditions, the state must, in the post-war period, hold parliamentary, local and presidential elections, which, according to the law “On the All-Ukrainian Referendum”, cannot be combined with the holding of a referendum.

The statement of public activists was published on the website of the civil movement " Among the signatories of this appeal:.

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of the VIII convocation, Chairman of the ANTS Anna Gopko;

Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2007-2009). ), head of the Russian Research Center Vladimir Ogryzko;

Chairman of the Board of the Center for Political and Legal Reforms Igor Koliushko;

Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission (2007-2018), Honored Lawyer of Ukraine Andrey Magera;

Director of the NGO \;

Chairman of the \;

NGO \;

co-coordinator of the \;

NGO Decolonization Valery Pekar;

President of the Center \;

Chairman of the NGO \;

Head of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory Elena Galushka;

veteran, representative of the Regional Council of Ukrainians of Crimea Sergei Mokrenyuk;

Chairman of the Board of the NGO \;

Head of Strategic Communications and Development of the NGO \;

Chairman of the International Center for Ukrainian Studies \;

project coordinator of the NGO \;

Ukrainian PEN Alexey Panich;

Ukrainian Philosophical Foundation Evgeniy Bystritsky;

Executive Director of the Institute for Transformation of Northern Eurasia Vladimir Gorbach;

media GRUNT Alexey Kovzhun;

Director of the IBO \;

People's Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada (2014-2019), member of the supervisory board of the analytical center \;

diplomat, public figure Bohdan Pankevich;

Chairman of the NGO \;

Chairman of the NGO \;

Chairman of the Open Data Association Natalya Chernogub;

Center for Reforms and Local Development Andrey Ginkul;

Chairman of the Charitable Foundation \;

Director of the VBO \;

Director of ITCare LLC, CxO EnergyCitizen Andrey Podanenko;

Chairman of the NGO \;

Chairman of the Board of the NGO \;

Executive Director of the NGO Interdisciplinary Scientific and Educational Anti-Corruption Center in Ukraine (ACREC) Oksana Nesterenko;

CEO, co-founder of UkraineNow. org Larisa Verbitskaya;

Head of the NGO \;

Chairman of the NGO \;

journalist, board member of the Institute of Conciliarity Natalya Sokolenko;

NGO \;

Chairman of the Board of the NGO \;

KIU project manager, Kherson Galina Bakhmatova,;

Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier, Chairman of the NGO \;

volunteer, director of the film \;

Chairman of the Perfect Art Group NGO Alexander Tsegolnik;

Chairman of the NGO Cultural Assembly Alexandra Kiryushina;

NGO \;

Founder of the NGO \;

member of the supervisory board of the National Ukrainian Youth Association Oleg Slabospitsky;

NGO \;

Head of the UCPI Civil Society Development Program Maxim Latsiba;

officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Sergei Ismagilov.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated that he was ready to hold presidential elections and a referendum on a peace agreement if a ceasefire was reached..

The initiative for a national referendum belongs exclusively to the Ukrainian side, which US President Donald Trump did not insist on. Read more about this in Inna Vedernikova’s article “Behind the glass: negotiations without a finale, elections without peace”?