Second Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005) has said that he did not ask for any assistance during his visit to Russia to mark the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight by Yuri Gagarin.
"I’m not asking for help. I can [cope with this] on my own. I receive a lot of calls and letters from all countries, including from Russian lawyers. In particular, the Moscow City Bar Association offered us its services, but I think we have enough forces to professionally deal with this matter," he told reporters before another round of questioning at the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Kuchma said that he was pleased with "their moral support."
"I am pleased that complete strangers, not even friends, colleagues, but just strangers, simply call or write me, express their regret and don’t believe in this nonsense," he added.
Kuchma said that the reaction of his Russian friends to the opening of criminal proceedings against him could not be announced.
"Well, what could the Russians say? They used such words that are simply not possible for me to repeat in front of the camera," he said.
