US Chargé d'Affaires in Ukraine William Taylor said the freezing of US military aid to the republic was connected with Washington’s attempt to get Kiev to launch an investigation into the family of former United States Vice President Joe Biden. This was announced by an American diplomat at a congressional hearing held as part of the impeachment procedure of Donald Trump. The text with Taylor’s testimony was circulated by the American media.
According to him, he learned that Washington suspended the provision of military assistance to Kiev in July from a representative of the Office of Management and Budget of the White House. The corresponding instruction was allegedly received directly from President Trump.
Later, according to Taylor, a representative of the National Security Council told him, citing US ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, that "financial security assistance will not be received until President Zelensky pledges to ensure an investigation into the Burisma company."
Taylor claims that during the summer months, U.S. diplomats sought to make Vladimir Zelensky publicly launch an investigation into Joe Biden's son, Hunter, who served on the board of directors of the Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma and was allegedly involved in a number of frauds.
The fact that Trump linked the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, as well as the prospect of a meeting with Zelensky, namely with the investigation, was told to Taylor by Sondland himself.
“Ambassador Sondland also told me that he now admits that he made a mistake by informing Ukrainian officials with whom he had conversations that the organization of the meeting with President Zelensky in the White House depends on whether the investigations will be publicly announced. In general, Ambassador Sondland said that “everything”, including security assistance, depends on such an announcement. He said that President Trump wanted President Zelensky to be “behind the public platform”, openly ordered that such an investigation be launched, ”Taylor said.
Dual approach
William Taylor, who led the U.S. diplomatic mission in Ukraine during the presidency of George W. Bush, accepted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's offer to return to this post in late May after Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch arrived in Washington.
According to Taylor, upon taking office, he realized that the White House has two channels of communication with Kiev. One official is through the embassy. And the second is an unofficial one, which included the State Department’s special representative for Ukraine, Kurt Walker, the aforementioned Gordon Sondland, US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and Trump's lawyer Rudolph (Rudi) Giuliani, who was seeking an investigation into Biden Jr., as well as Ukraine’s alleged interference in the 2016 US elections of the year.
According to the US Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine, “the implementation of the official foreign policy of the United States was undermined by informal efforts led by Giuliani,” and “the channel of informal political interaction worked contrary to the goals of the long-established US policy.”
- Rudy Giuliani
- © Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
And the main “goal” of Washington, according to him, is the counteraction of Russia.
“If Ukraine succeeds in breaking free from Russian influence, Europe will be able to become whole, free, democratic and stay in peace. If Russia subjugates Ukraine to itself, it will again turn into an empire that oppresses its own people and threatens neighbors and the rest of the world, ”the head of the US embassy in Ukraine told Congress.
As political analyst Mikhail Sinelnikov-Orishak noted in an interview with RT, these statements by Taylor are definitely used by Trump's opponents to promote impeachment proceedings.
“Any testimony is a cent in the bank of impeachment. But whether these cents is enough to fill it, I doubt it, ”says Sinelnikov-Orishak.
According to him, in order to accuse Trump of abuse of power, Congress needs direct evidence, but so far it has only indirect evidence.
Bureaucratic Sabotage
After Taylor testified behind closed doors, a Florida member of the House of Representatives, Democrat Val Demings, publicly remarked: “What he says in the introduction can do great harm to the president.”
In turn, the White House said that all the accusations against Trump are part of a coordinated campaign.
“President Trump has done nothing wrong - this is a coordinated slanderous campaign waged by extreme left-wing legislators and no-one elected radical bureaucrats who unleashed a war against the Constitution. There was nothing in the service-for-service series, ”White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham commented on Taylor’s testimony.
In turn, one of the most ardent supporters of the impeachment of the president - the head of the committee of the House of Representatives for Intelligence Adam Schiff - expressed indignation on Grish with his words on Twitter, noting that the accusation of the representative of Trump concerns, among other things, the Vietnam War veteran and Taylor, a career diplomat.
Ambassador Taylor went to West Point, served in Vietnam, and left retirement to take this assignment at Secretary Pompeo's request.
Far from being a “radical unelected bureaucrat waging war on the Constitution,” he proved today to be among its most staunch defenders. https://t.co/vB6csEs40Z
Recall that earlier evidence under the impeachment procedure of Donald trump was given by his former adviser on relations with Russia Fiona Hill, deputy secretary of state George Kent, Marie Yovanovitch, Gordon Sondland, Kurt Walker. The latter also provided the Democrats with their correspondence with Taylor, Sondland, Giuliani, and Zelensky's assistant Andrei Yermak. According to congressional committee leaders on intelligence, oversight and reform, and international relations, this correspondence confirms the allegations made earlier against Trump.
- Marie Jovanovic at the opening ceremony of the Rapid Trident-2017 military exercises at the Yavoriv training ground in the Lviv region.
- RIA News
According to CNN, citing a source, Hill also expressed disagreement with Washington’s policy towards Kiev. In turn, Marie Jovanovic told congressmen that President Trump allegedly personally sought her resignation, putting pressure on the State Department.
Only Gordon Sondland, a businessman close to Trump, openly defended the president. According to the US ambassador to the EU, the head of the White House was not guided by the principle of “service for service” (quid pro quo) in relations with Ukraine, seeking an investigation against the Biden.
However, last Thursday, the expression “quid pro quo” came from the mouth of the acting head of the White House apparatus, Mick Mulvaney. However, he later refuted his own statement, saying that he was misunderstood. However, congressmen and the media skeptical of Trump seized on a careless phrase, provoking a new wave of criticism of the current administration.
In turn, HSE professor Alexander Domrin, in a conversation with RT, noted that the recent testimonies of Trump's associates discrediting him speak of dissatisfaction with the president in the camp of the Washington bureaucracy.
“A conspiracy is ripening in the Trump administration. This is another confirmation that State Department officials are not working for the state, not for their president, but against it. This leads to an even greater destabilization of the domestic political situation in the country, ”said Domrin.
“Toxic country for the USA”
This week, Democrats intend to continue interrogating representatives of the executive branch. So, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper and acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Ricoeur. Both officials are responsible for the Ukrainian and Russian policies of their departments.
- © Joshua Roberts / Reuters
President Trump, in turn, told Fox News on Monday that Attorney General William Barr should investigate Ukraine’s role in allegations of "ties" to Russia against Trump. In particular, according to the American leader, it is necessary to check whether someone in Kiev was involved in the formation of a “dossier” of the former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, in which unfounded charges were brought against Trump.
According to experts, despite mutual accusations, it is unlikely that the ups and downs of the “Ukrainian” scandal will have a strong impact on American politics. On the one hand, society has already divided into Trump supporters and opponents, whose positions are unlikely to change. On the other hand, the Americans are tired of investigating Trump’s “ties” with Russia, which, by and large, ended in nothing. Therefore, new accusations against the president almost do not cause excitement.
“If there weren’t a“ Russian case ”, it would be a strong move. But the search for "ties" with the Kremlin pretty tired everyone. And for the Americans, that the Russian Federation, that Ukraine is about the same thing. And since the first investigation did not bring any result, many are skeptical about the second initiative, ”Sinelnikov-Orishak explained in a conversation with RT.
At the same time, as Alexander Domrin emphasizes, the scandal connected with Ukraine can have a very negative effect on relations between Kiev and Washington. Especially after the whole world found out that Zelensky did not help Trump with an investigation into the Biden.
“Ukraine has become a“ toxic country ”for the United States. Kiev invested in the Democrats, in the Clinton Foundation. As long as Trump is in the White House, Ukraine will be kept under control. And, of course, the allocation of military assistance will be suspended, since Trump is well aware that the Ukrainian government is opposed to him, ”concluded Domrin.