U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Tefft has said he has applied for a meeting with jailed former Ukrainian interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko, Ukrainian party People's Self-Defense said on Thursday.
Tefft broke the news during a meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv
with defense lawyers for Lutsenko, Iryna Lutsenko and Ihor Fomin, the
party said in a statement. Iryna Lutsenko is the ex-minister’s wife.
Thomas Melia, deputy assistant secretary of state in the bureau of
democracy, human rights and labor of the U.S. State Department, who was
present at the meeting, expressed anxiety at the overall political
situation in Ukraine and complained that imprisoned Ukrainian opposition
politicians are under increasing pressure.
He also said the Lutsenko issue remains on the agenda of U.S.-Ukrainian relations.
Lutsenko is serving his sentence in a prison in the Chernihiv region.
