Prison service says it got no statements from EU and US ambassadors on meeting with Tymoshenko

The State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine has said that it has not received any requests from foreign embassies for permission to visit former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

"The penitentiary service had not received any official applications from the Foreign Ministry or embassies as of 1430 on Tuesday," Assistant Head of the State Penitentiary Service Ihor Andrushko told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

The Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, in turn, told the news agency that Ambassador Jan Tombinski had sent a request for permission to meet with Tymoshenko.

"The ambassador has submitted an application, in which he asked for the consent to meet with the former prime minister," the delegation's press service said, noting that it hopes the application will be positively considered.

The U.S. embassy has not confirmed reports whether Ambassador John Tefft submitted a request for a meeting with Tymoshenko.

As reported, Deputy Head of the Batkivschyna Party, MP Hryhoriy Nemyria said earlier that Tefft and Tombinski had demanded permission to see Tymoshenko.

"We know that the EU and the U.S. ambassadors have addressed the Ukrainian authorities with a demand for immediate and unhampered access to Yulia Tymoshenko," he said.