Fifth president of Ukraine, MP and leader of the European Solidarity political party Petro Poroshenko, who is currently on a business trip in Europe, and is suspected by Ukrainian law enforcement officers of high treason and aiding terrorism, will return to Ukraine on January 17.

"Next week, from January 10 to 15, I will work in Europe to protect Ukraine from Russian aggression and support democracy in our country... On January 17, as I promised, I will return to Kyiv to appear in court and hold a meeting with the Prosecutor General, using the right of the MP to an urgent reception," the European Solidarity press service said, citing Poroshenko on Thursday.

The MP said that he would not return to "defend against [Volodymyr] Zelensky, but in order to protect Ukraine from incompetent leadership and external aggression."

"From attempts... to build an authoritarian regime and suppress the opposition, as happened in Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. And how Yanukovych tried in vain to do it in Ukraine. I beleive the Ukrainians will respond to yet another attempt to create an authoritarian regime in Ukraine. We will not allow to dismantle democracy, Ukraine and Ukrainian statehood," the fifth president said.

As reported, on December 20, the SBI served Poroshenko with charges of high treason and assistance to terrorist organizations within the case on the criminal scheme for supplying coal from the temporarily occupied territories. Due to the impossibility of serving a written notice of suspicion personally, it was sent to the place of residence, registration, and also to the workplace.