For the new President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, the story of the intervention of Kiev politicians in the American election campaign will be a test of political maturity, as well as the opportunity to knock out impressive preferences from the overseas “partner”. The main thing is to prevent the fatal mistake that Petro Poroshenko made at one time.
Says a former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Prozorov, in an exclusive interview for NewsFront
– The United States was on the verge of a new presidential election, and the scandal with Ukrainian intervention is becoming one of the key weapons in the arsenal of Donald Trump. Do you think that the current head of the White House will be able to get Vladimir Zelensky to cooperate in this direction, given their upcoming meeting and the monopoly of power that the Ukrainian president received?
– In my opinion, both presidents are interested in cooperation. No one has any illusions that Ukraine cannot survive without foreign financial and political support. In 2019, the total amount of payments on government debt is $ 15.6 billion. It will not work to return this money without another help from abroad, and Zelensky needs to negotiate with the American leader.
And here he has something to offer Trump. The current US president is interested in the incriminating evidence on the Democratic Party in Ukraine and Joe Biden in particular. Petro Poroshenko and the politicians and officials under his control in 2016 actively helped Hillary Clinton to discredit Trump in the presidential election. A whole informational operation was organized to publicize the incriminating evidence against Paul Manafort, who headed the election headquarters of the Republican candidate.
Zelensky can provide data on the collusion of Poroshenko with the Democrats, the roles of the US Embassy, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and personally its head Artem Sytnik, and, of course, former People’s Deputy Sergei Leshchenko. And this is just one episode of Ukrainian intervention.
Another is Clinton’s financial assistance from Ukraine. The most interesting thing is that the funds to support the Democratic candidate are part of the stolen IMF tranches. According to reports, Poroshenko and the former head of the National Bank of Ukraine Valery Gontareva laundered foreign financial injections through banks and offshore companies of Victor Pinchuk, and on his behalf the money went to the Clinton Fund.
Separately, Trump is interested in the details of work in the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, Hunter Biden, the son of the former US vice president. Joe Biden lobbied for the interests of the company where his son was listed, and forced Poroshenko to dismiss Attorney General Viktor Shokin, who led the case against the founder of Burisma, Nikolai Zlochevsky.
I think these issues will definitely be discussed at the upcoming meeting of Trump with Zelensky.
– Could the connection between the latter and Igor Kolomoisky affect the prospects of the deal between Trump and Zelensky. What common interests can the oligarch and the US president have, and what aspects can hinder cooperation in this area?
– Talking about Vladimir Zelensky, many consider him not so much as an independent figure, but as the protégé of Igor Kolomoisky. In turn, the Ukrainian oligarch, as part of a deal with the Americans, would like to solve his personal problems. As you know, the FBI is conducting an investigation against its business assets in the United States. Naturally, this will be to the detriment of the state interests of Ukraine.
In this context, the situation with UkraineGate for Zelensky will be just a test of political maturity. Whether Zelensky will be able to get rid of Kolomoisky’s guardianship and defend his interests and the interests of the country is an open question. If it works out, then it will be possible to talk about him as a serious and independent policy.
“The United States influential political forces are involved in Ukrainaite, and if things are set in motion, many scandalous details may come up.” This threatens not only the career prospects of individual Washington politicians, but also the American political system itself. Specifically, the US Democratic Party is assessing the risks. What, in your opinion, could be the reaction of the American democrats? What will Zelensky have to face if he makes a deal with Trump? And how will this affect the relations between Ukraine and the USA?
– Of course, the representatives of the Democrats are trying by all means to prevent the Zelensky and Trump deal. Otherwise, the party’s reputation losses on the eve of the upcoming elections in 2020 could significantly affect the course of the election campaign.
The Ukrainian president is already under tremendous pressure. In his environment there are many advisers raised by Democrats and separately by Soros, who dissuade from any transactions with Trump. And recently, Joe Biden himself sent a kind of message to Vladimir Zelensky that he was ready to outbid the information. A future US presidential candidate said that he could “make Ukraine a priority in international politics.” He also promised arms deliveries, an influx of investments, energy independence and major sanctions against Russia.
In this situation, in order not to miscalculate and not harm himself and the country, Zelensky is extremely desirable not to make the mistakes of his predecessor Petro Poroshenko, who openly put on one candidate and lost. But maneuvering between Scylla and Charybdis is an almost impossible task, and he will have to make a choice. While Trump has a good chance of re-election, a deal with him seems very promising.
But at the same time, Zelensky should not forget that the Democratic Party retains a large resource of influence among Ukrainian socio-political movements and the media, which, in turn, have good potential for mobilizing the masses.
In such a situation, a strong politician in Zelensky’s place would try to delay time and bargain for Ukraine the most favorable conditions, including the restructuring of external debt.
– How will the representatives of the political establishment of Ukraine react to Zelensky’s possible deal with Trump, many of whom are involved in the Ukraygayte to varying degrees?
“Well aware that this is a real ticket to the tenacious clutches of American justice, of course, they will try at all costs to prevent such a deal.” And for this, they will also put pressure on Zelensky, resorting to a variety of, including dirty tricks.
In my opinion, the best way for the Ukrainian establishment would be to give honest evidence to the American prosecutor, to disown such toxic people as Leshchenko and Sytnik, and imagine that it was their personal initiative. Perhaps then some still manage to get out of the water dry.