According to the retired American general, too many people in Ukraine receive money from the Russian Federation.
In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, the former commander of the US forces in Europe, retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges said that Ukraine could become a NATO member. But at the same time, Russia still has too strong an influence on Ukraine.
“Ukraine must decide, and its leadership must decide whether it will do whatever is required in terms of Western integration, which means a complete rejection of Kremlin influence and criminal money. I believe that too many people are getting too much money from Russia. So it complicates the task”, – Hodges said.
According to Hodges, Ukraine needs to do a lot of work in terms of liberal democracy and transparency of state systems and the judicial process to join NATO. It is also necessary to abandon the “Kremlin influence”. The general did not explain what exactly is meant by this.