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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump tries to force Ukraine to meddle in the 2020 election
UKRAINES NEOPHYTE president, Volodymyr Zelensky, took a big step this week toward proving that he will be, as he promised, the most pro-reform president in Ukraines history. On Monday, he laid out a breathtakingly ambitious five-year plan including virtually every measure the International Monetary Fund and Western governments have urged on Ukraine in recent years, from land reform to the privatization of state companies to a cleansing of the judiciary.
That ought to be cause for celebration in Washington, where successive Democratic and Republican administrations have tried to draw Ukraine away from Vladimir Putins Russia and into the ranks of Western democracies, only to be frustrated by the fecklessness and corruption of the countrys political leaders. Yet Mr. Zelensky has so far failed to win the backing of President Trump. Not only has Mr. Trump refused to grant the Ukrainian leader a White House visit, but also he has suspended the delivery of $250 million in U.S. military aid to a country still fighting Russian aggression in its eastern provinces.
Some suspect Mr. Trump is once again catering to Mr. Putin, who is dedicated to undermining Ukrainian democracy and independence. But were reliably told that the president has a second and more venal agenda: He is attempting to force Mr. Zelensky to intervene in the 2020 U.S. presidential election by launching an investigation of the leading Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. Mr. Trump is not just soliciting Ukraines help with his presidential campaign; he is using U.S. military aid the country desperately needs in an attempt to extort it.
The strong-arming of Mr. Zelensky was openly reported to the New York Times last month by Mr. Trumps personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who said he had met in Madrid with a close associate of the Ukrainian leader and urged that the new government restart an investigation of Mr. Biden and his son. Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, while Joe Biden, as vice president, urged the dismissal of Ukraines top prosecutor, who investigated the firm.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/is-trump-strong-arming-ukraines-new-president-for-political-gain/2019/09/05/4eb239b0-cffa-11e9-8c1c-7c8ee785b855_story.html
madaboutharry
(40,209 posts)bdamomma
(63,837 posts)POS, now is this a impeachable offense?????? WTF.
skylucy
(3,739 posts)outrageous.
Haggis for Breakfast
(6,831 posts)Russia's history with five-years plans being what they amounted to . . .
Eugene
(61,872 posts)The Air Force C-17 diversions to Turnbury show that Trump Administration is nothing but a crime family.
Which fascist kleptocracy are they using as their model? Even Putin isn't this brazen.