The impeachment process of the American president and its causes still do not leave front pages of the leading media.
The US President Donald Trump named Ukraine one of the most corrupt countries in the world. In his opinion, the Ukrainian authorities perceive the United States as a feeding trough. He made such a statement in an interview in connection with the completion of the first phase of the hearings about his impeachment.
This is not the first time Trump has accused Ukraine of corruption. By this, for example, he explained the reasons for freezing military aid to Kiev. However, the international press saw corruption in the actions of Trump. Correspondent.net says that Western observers write about this.
Trump’s relationship with Ukrainian oligarchs harms the US.
The most serious constitutional crisis in the United States since the time of Watergate is connected not only with the need to protect the reputation of US democratic institutions, which suffered from the abuse of power by the president.
It is part of an intensifying geopolitical struggle between the defenders of democracy and the forces of oligarchic authoritarianism – from the Kiev Maidan to the Hong Kong Mong Kok. In this growing global conflict, Trump and his “henchmen” invariably unite with the forces of oligarchic authoritarianism – in Russia, Turkey, Hungary and other countries.
But this is manifested most clearly and distinctly in Ukraine. The fact that Ukraine was at the center of impeachment is no coincidence. This country is the epicenter of the struggle between adherents of the democratic principle of the rule of law and an authoritarian oligarchy.
Ukraine is on the line of civilizational and geopolitical rift. To the west of it there are liberal democracies of Europe, to the east there are Russia and its Eurasian states, which in most cases are corrupt oligarchies.
In this war, the United States has always been the main enemy of Russia. But so far, Russia has always had to fight with both parties (Democratic and Republican – ed.).
At a time when the reformers who advocated democracy were trying to defend their country in the Donbass and at the same time struggling with the oligarchic system, Trump conducted a very extraordinary political campaign.
He spoke very well about President Vladimir Putin and constantly ignored concerns about the regime of the Russian leader. Trump also aroused the republican establishment, instructing to remove the item on the provision of military assistance to Ukraine from the party’s official program.
During the Mueller investigation, Trump administration struggled to deflect accusations of conspiracy with Russia, and in Ukraine the underworld of pro-Russian oligarchs and corrupt officials tried to help Trump by launching a conspiracy theory according to which Ukrainians did not intervene in the 2016 elections.
In the following months, the pro-Kremlin network in Ukraine began to prepare a disinformation campaign against one of the most ardent supporters of sovereignty of Ukraine and the person who sincerely supported her fight against corruption and Russia – the former vice president Joe Biden.
President Trump’s attempts to force Ukraine to participate in resolving its domestic political issues are inextricably linked to the revenge of pro-Russian forces in Ukraine. These forces are trying to curry favor with representatives of Trump’s inner circle.
The same tactics that the Party of Regions has been honing for almost two decades in Ukraine – hiring corrupt prosecutors to make politically motivated charges, bribing officials, offering profitable deals to political allies – is now being used by the United States.
For example, the US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry recommended Zelensky as an adviser to his campaign campaign sponsor. And this person received a lucrative contract in the oil and gas industry of Ukraine.
Adkovat Trump’s private security company Rudi Giuliani signed major contracts with the mayors of Kiev and Kharkov, while he acted on behalf of Trump. And, of course, Giuliani’s partners Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas tried to use their ties with the White House to obtain profitable contracts in the energy sector of Ukraine.
Trump’s abuse of his official position for personal, political purposes has done very serious damage to the democratic institutions and political culture of the United States.
By joining forces with a corrupt oligarchy in Ukraine, Trump destroyed the American foreign policy tradition, according to which both parties always upheld the democratic rule of law.
To restore the reputation of American democratic institutions, we will need not only to restore order in our country, but also to be more committed to the cause of democracy in this intensifying global struggle.
Under Trump, the States themselves began to use corruption
Economist, Britain
Diplomats who testified in Congress over the past two weeks highlighted the fundamental feature of the Trump impeachment process: it began with the American fight against corruption in Eastern Europe. This process played a key role in American security policy.
Then, the former ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, remembered persons associated with the Ukrainian oligarchs who persuaded Trump to remove her from her post.
The American leader, in turn, demanded a reward for himself in the form of the beginning of the Ukrainian investigation against Biden’s son. And this also starts with the fact that the former vice president dealt with the establishment of the rule of law in Eastern Europe.
In the meantime, the impeachment process sheds light on the fact that the very behavior (corruption) That America used to condemn elsewhere in the world is spreading in the United States.
Biden began visiting countries in Central and Eastern Europe to make it clear that the United States now sees corruption as a national security problem.
Washington’s anti-corruption efforts began to decline in 2017, when Wess Mitchell took charge of the Department of State’s policies in Eastern Europe.
He was convinced that harsh criticism of corruption harmed his diplomacy, pushing the former communist countries towards Russia. Mitchell resigned earlier this year. But despite the fact that many American ambassadors continued to promote anti-corruption policies, they were no longer convinced that the White House was a mountain behind them.
Instead of supporting the position of their embassies regarding bribery, the Trump administration began to undermine it. The recall of Jovanovic from Kiev and the fact that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not protect her – all this shocked diplomats.
Her successor in Kiev, William Taylor, testified in a parallel channel of diplomacy through which people close to the American president could take over the political process in Ukraine from the American government.
US is experiencing Ukrainization
New York Times, USA
Trump is trying to create a second Ukraine from the USA. And Congress has to decide whether the Americans should take it for granted – or it’s time to get outraged.
I have been closely following Ukrainian politics since 1999, when I became a full-time employee of the European publication Wall Street Journal. Some of its distinguishing features will seem familiar to the American reader.
The first is the criminalization of political divisions. For many years before Trump cheated on his supporters with chants, “Behind her bars!” to Hillary Clinton, former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych did this in practice with his own rival Yulia Tymoshenko.
Secondly, this is an abuse of political power to protect against criminal prosecution and personal and family enrichment.
The third feature is the fusion of big politics and crime: conspiracy theories flourish, backstage figures have a disproportionate influence, and formal power channels are disconnected from the real centers of the country.
The fourth feature is the undercover intervention of Russia, often through local players. Ukraine is perhaps the most extreme example of this kind of interference throughout the world (neighboring Georgia is in second place).
The same opinion was expressed on Thursday by Fiona Hill in her testimony, warning members of the Congressional Intelligence Committee that they risk falling victim to “politically motivated lies,” because the stuffing about Ukrainian political intervention “clearly promotes Russian interests.”
However, the main consumer and distributor of this lie is none other than the President of the United States, a regular supplier of other conspiracy theories.
To the great honor of ordinary Ukrainians, confronting Russia and fighting for a better power in Kiev, they showed that they deserve world support. And to the shame of the Republicans – they are ready to belittle our political standards to the level of recent Ukraine – at a time when Ukrainians are eager to rise to our previous level.
Zelensky must refuse Trump’s corruption assistance
Project Syndicate, USA
Is mobilization of the whole society still possible in a country that has suffered under the rule of corrupt leaders and extractive institutions for as long as Ukraine? The short answer is yes.
A young, politically active population lives in Ukraine. No less important is the fact that the Ukrainian people understand that corruption must be uprooted in order to build better institutions.
Zelensky waged an election campaign, promising to fight corruption, and he was elected with a large margin of vote. Now he is obliged to start the process of purification.
Trump’s attempts to drag Ukraine into his own corruption dealings give Zelensky a great chance for a symbolic gesture. He should publicly refuse to deal with Americans until they sort out their own corruption problems (even if this means that they will have to reject their corrupt help).
The fact is that the United States today is one of the last countries that should give lectures on corruption to Ukraine. And in order for America to fulfill this role again, its courts and voters will have to make it clear that they will not tolerate the abuse of the Trump administration, its attacks on democratic institutions and the deception of public trust.
The future of the United States is similar to the past of Ukraine
Foreign Affairs, USA
Since the telephone conversation between Zelensky and Trump was published, many Americans have begun to use the word “Ukraine” as a synonym for the word “corruption.” But let’s separate the facts from speculation: Ukraine is not the most corrupt place on planet Earth.
According to the Corruption Perception Index, at least 60 countries overtook Ukraine in terms of corruption. Among them are Russia, Mexico, Nigeria, as well as Iran.
Moreover, Ukraine recently ventured into the deepest anti-corruption reforms in its history. And the election of the new leadership of the country brought to power the people who came out with the most radical anti-corruption platform in the history of the country.
In a telephone conversation, Trump confronted the Ukrainian leader with an unwanted choice: Zelensky had to either violate Ukrainian laws in order to fabricate dirty charges against an opponent of the current US president in the upcoming elections, or to restore the White House against himself.
The choice in favor of the rule of law meant stopping the supply of weapons, which Ukraine absolutely needed to repel the invasion of Russia. Ukraine was trapped inside these two options. And this scenario reminded me of the situation from the 1990s that my father found himself in when racketeers began to shake him (the author is from Ukraine – ed.)
Zelensky made his own mistakes during that telephone conversation. There was no need to promise him anything that could at least somehow undermine the rule of law prevailing in Ukraine. It was not necessary for him to say at least something bad about the European allies, who sent Ukraine five times more help than the United States.
Trump’s hatred of Ukraine turned out to be at the center of impeachment
The Washington Post, USA
In May, three main advisers to President Donald Trump met with him in the Oval Office to convince him that the new Ukrainian leader is an ally worthy of US support.
They barely had time to start their report, when Trump criticized them, as current and former American officials who were aware of the course of the meeting told. According to Trump, the entire leadership of Ukraine entered into an agreement with the Democrats to prevent his victory in the 2016 presidential election.
“They [the Ukrainian authorities] tried to destroy me. They are terrible, corrupt people,” Trump said.
Since the beginning of the investigation, as part of the impeachment procedure, members of the House of Representatives have already heard behind closed doors the testimonies of about a dozen witnesses.
And the leitmotif of the testimony of almost all of these witnesses was the president’s indomitable hatred of Ukraine, the hatred that he has experienced since the first days of his stay in the White House.
American and Ukrainian officials spent several months organizing a meeting between Trump and Zelensky. In their futile attempts, US officials urged Ukrainians to comply with Trump and his personal lawyer’s demand for investigations that could bring Trump political benefits.
Ultimately, on July 25, during a telephone conversation, Trump directly demanded that the Ukrainian president find compromising evidence on Biden.
Ukraine was a weak country torn by war and desperate for US help. She could hardly offer something significant to Trump, who made the fight against the US trade deficit one of his top priorities.
In Congress, Democrats and Republicans supported Ukraine, considering it necessary to protect American democratic principles. Ukraine was a fragile democracy, forced to fight simultaneously with internal corruption and a strong external adversary.
But none of these compelling arguments could convince Trump. From the first days of his work at the White House, Trump made it clear that he does not like alliances and all that forces the United States to defend its weaker allies.