Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that he did not violate the law during the construction of a retaining wall in the buffer zone of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery.

"The fundamental position for me here is that the president should not break the law, and therefore I have to report and answer for every rebuke. Firstly, was there any construction? No, there was no construction. Then what was done there? There was an order to build a wall to prevent landslide, because there was an accident - ammunition of World War II was found there, and everything started sliding," he said at a press conference on Monday.

He said that he had no influence on the drafting of permits for the construction.

"I have nothing to do with receiving or not receiving a permit, because this should be done by a construction company. And the construction company held a press conference on the next day and showed all permits that were obtained in 2012 and 2013," he said.

It had previously been reported that in 2009, Poroshenko bought a 0.6135-hectare land plot at 5 Radialna Street with a designated purpose of housing construction. According to media reports, construction at the site, which is located in the buffer zone of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, allegedly began without the permission of the Culture Ministry.