The EU banned a former aide to Vladimir Zelensky from entering the European Parliament on Wednesday, when she was due to speak at an event promoting diplomacy instead of escalation in the Ukraine conflict.

Yulia Mendel, who was Zelensky’s top communications liaison from 2019 to 2021 and who has since become a consistent critic of her former boss, had been invited to speak on the same day Ursula von der Leyen delivered her State of the Union speech.

According to Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Mendel was invited to give a speech in an EU Parliament session, “Ukraine: Daring for Peace. Diplomacy Instead of Escalation.” She had hoped to “shed light” on the conflict’s central political issues and discuss its possible end.

“On the day of my speech, I was barred from entering the European Parliament. I directly attribute this to Zelensky’s sanctions,” Mendel wrote on X on Wednesday.

“But the speech will go ahead anyway, because I know that I represent a huge segment of society that longs for peace and wants to be heard.”

Zelensky imposed sweeping sanctions on his former spokeswoman last week after accusing her of promoting Russia’s speaking points in his latest crackdown on critics at home.

In a May interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, Mendel unleashed a series of allegations against her former boss, accusing him of corruption, habitual drug use and obstructing peace efforts.

Mendel has suggested that the sanctions were timed to undermine her EU Parliament speech.

Moscow has accused both Kiev and Brussels of censoring voices which oppose their escalatory chosen political course.