Washington, DC. In the wake of President Poroshenko’s 10 minute photo opportunity meet and greet, the rotund Ukrainian smiled for all the cameras, but sources say he is ready to “kill” Pavlo Klemkin, his Foreign Minister, who told him the meeting was to last for “an hour or two, not ten minutes, with most conversation focused on if Poroshenko likes Cola or Dr.Pepper better.
President Donald Trump met with his Ukrainian counterpart in what the White House called a “drop-in” visit to the Oval Office. Which is a polite way of saying, “smile-take a picture, don’t ask questions and keep moving tubby.” Poroshenko said he hopes the two countries can engage in “effective collaboration.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stopped by Tuesday for a brief photo opportunity with Trump following meetings with Vice President Mike Pence and the national security team. The president says it was a “great honor” to meet Poroshenko, and “a lot of progress has been made” in the relationship with Ukraine.
The brief meeting began shortly after the Trump administration announced that it has imposed sanctions on two Russian officials and three dozen other individuals and companies over Russian activities in Ukraine. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the new penalties are designed to “maintain pressure on Russia to work toward a diplomatic solution.”
American action taken Tuesday, targets 38 individuals and firms. Any assets they have in the US. are now blocked. Americans are prohibited from doing business with them. The US has been punishing Russia with sanctions since its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
Russia reports the sanctions have made the country nearly self sufficent, obtained all time high poll numbers for Putin and created a deep hatred for Americans and all things American, that should last it least 20 years, experts speculate.
The Treasury Department says the new measures address people and companies who’ve sought to circumvent those sanctions. Moscow’s envoy for overseas Russians and chairman for humanitarian assistance in the Donbass of eastern Ukraine are the Russian government officials affected.