Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has refused to meet with her defense lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, at the meeting room, the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine has said.

On Tuesday, Vlasenko arrived at Kharkiv-based Central Clinical Hospital No. 5, where the ex-premier is undergoing treatment, entered the unit where Tymoshenko is kept and waited for her at the meeting room.

"The convict keeps refusing to meet with Vlasenko, despite numerous attempts of the penitentiary service employees to convince her to meet with her defense lawyer," the service said.

The penitentiary service stressed that no one is preventing Tymoshenko from meeting with her lawyer.

"We think that convict Tymoshenko's actions were planned to discredit the employees of the penitentiary service and accuse them in future of preventing [her meeting people]," the penitentiary service said.