Criminal liability for inaccurate declaration should be strict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a meeting of the National Council on Anti-Corruption Policy.

At the beginning of the meeting, the president recalled the decision of the Constitutional Court, which led to a constitutional crisis.

"This crisis has already led to very serious consequences. It took a lot of effort for us not to finally lose the support of our international partners, in particular the IMF, the World Bank and other investors after this decision. Those who lied in the declarations for 2017, 2018, 2019 will no longer be punished. Work on preventing corruption remains paused today," Zelensky said.

The head of the Ukrainian state called on the Verkhovna Rada as soon as possible to adopt a bill on the restoration of criminal liability for evading the submission of a declaration and entering into it deliberately false information.

"Criminal liability for evading filing a declaration and entering into it deliberately false information should be quite strict and provide for the possibility of imposing a sentence of imprisonment. Corrupt officials should be held accountable under the law," he stressed.

The next step in overcoming the constitutional crisis, according to Zelensky, should be the restoration of the norms of the law on prevention of corruption. This document should ensure the complete restoration of checks of declarations, including declarations of judges, and the corresponding powers should remain with the National Agency on Corruption Prevention.

"It is imperative that these differences do not provide anyone with opportunities for abuse or delay in prosecution," Zelensky summed up.