Sec of State Blinken spoke to the the leaders there about military assistance AND the country internal corruption …..
“Ukraine faces twin challenges,” Blinken told reporters at a media briefing in the capital, “aggression from outside coming from Russia, and in effect, aggression from within coming from corruption, oligarchs and others who are putting their interests ahead of those of the Ukrainian people.”
Blinken’s visit to Ukraine also was designed to demonstrate support for the U.S.-Ukraine relationship after the events of 2019, when then-President Donald Trump temporarily froze security aid to Ukraine and asked President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, a request that led to Trump’s first impeachmenttrial.
The scandal continues to reverberate in the United States: Federal agents last week raided the office and apartment of Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former personal lawyer to Trump, in connection with Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine.
Zelensky, whose government is seeking more military hardware from the United States, including air defense systems and anti-sniper technology, appeared eager to put the Trump era behind him.
“I don’t want to waste your time on the past; let’s talk about the future,” Zelensky said when asked about Giuliani….