Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yehor Bozhok asked to be suspended from his duties due to the fact that Ukraine's Prosecutor General has decided to extend the investigation in the proceedings on the suspicion of a criminal offense entered in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations.

"Due to the fact that the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) decided to extend the investigation in the proceedings on the suspicion of a criminal offense entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, in order to ensure a transparent investigation of the situation that has developed, I ask you to remove me from my duties as Deputy Foreign Minister Of Ukraine," Bozhok said in a statement to the Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, which he posted on Twitter on Friday.

Bozhok also noted that he asked for removal himself, "in order to remove the ministry from the PGO's attention."

As reported, Bozhok is a defendant in a case in which the State Security Committee handed a suspicion to former President Petro Poroshenko. The PGO said according to its investigation, Poroshenko is suspected, acting as the president of Ukraine, of issuing in 2018 a clearly criminal order. Bozhok, then head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) suggested the appointment. Prosecutors believe Poroshenko his authority and official powers, deliberately committing acts that clearly go beyond the rights and powers granted to him).

As reported, Bozhok is involved in the case prosecuted by the State Bureau of Investigation against former President Petro Poroshenko. The PGO has said Poroshenko in 2018 issued an illegal degree obliging Bozhok to exceed his authority. Poroshenko has been served a notice of suspicion for committing criminal acts under Part 4 of Article 27, Part 4 of Article 41 and Part 4 of Article 426-1 of Ukraine's Criminal Code.