The head of the Radical Party Oleh Lyashko says the member of his faction Andriy Artemenko has developed his plan of the normalization of relations with Russia along with Putin's crony Viktor Medvedchuk and the leaders of Oppobloc.
They have travelled to Moscow together shortly before the scandalous publication of the plan in the New York Times, Lyashko told reporters in the parliament on 22 February.
"According to my information, Artemenko before the promulgation of the so-called plan had contacts with Medvedchuk, and [the opposition leaders] Lyovochkin and Boyko, so that was their joint work. They were in Moscow together," Interfax-Ukraine quoted Lyshko as saying.
The politician denied having any knowledge of Artemenko's plans and contacts: "As soon as I found out yesterday, I immediately appealed to the Security Service with a request to verify this information.
According to him, Russia is behind the development of the plan.
"Artemenko is a screen. The actual puppeteers, much more serious, are behind him. All these "peace plans" are aimed to sell out Ukraine and Ukrainian interests, letting Russia and the United States decide on the future of Ukraine," he said
"Artemenko is a non-entity and should be held responsible for high treason," said the leader of Radicals.
On February 19, NYT wrote that MP Artemenko handed over to the former adviser to the US President for National Security and Defense Michael Flynn what he described as "plan to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine." The document provides for "the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine's east and holding the nation-wide referendum on the leasing of Crimea to Russia for a period of 50 to 100 years ", and "compromising materials" on Ukrainian politicians.
After that, the Radical Party voted to exclude Artemenko from its faction and asked him to give up parliamentary mandate.
The Opposition Bloc denied involvement with the "Artemenko plan".