The Ukraine conflict’s most renowned prisoner, pilot Nadiya Savchenko, has been kicked out of her political party, state news agency Ukrinform reported on Friday.
Savchenko was released from Russian custody earlier this year and went on to serve as a lawmaker in the Ukrainian parliament.
The Fatherland Party, controlled by former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, made the decision because of Savchenko’s attempts to negotiate with rebel groups in war-torn eastern Ukraine, Tymoshenko told a press conference.
“Our positions differ in that the Fatherland Party has believed and continues to believe that there can be no negotiations with terrorists,” Tymoshenko said. “They are criminals and should be held responsible under the law.”
The party has not motioned for Savchenko to lose her parliamentary mandate and she is currently serving as an independent, Tymoshenko said.
Savchenko, who had been kept in Russian custody for almost two years, has in recent weeks met for peace talks with representatives of the two major, Russian-supported separatist groups in eastern Ukraine.