Representatives of the previous authorities of Ukraine are waiting for “a lot of adventures and a lot of sentences”. Such a statement was made by President Vladimir Zelensky after recordings of conversations were allegedly made, allegedly by former head of state Petro Poroshenko and representatives of the previous US administration - former Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden.
“They ruled the country so much that many adventures and many sentences await them. I would not like to talk about this, this is the competence of law enforcement agencies, ”Zelensky emphasized during a press conference on the occasion of the first anniversary of his tenure as president.
According to the head of state, he knows about the criminal proceedings against Poroshenko.
“I know that the Prosecutor General of Ukraine registered a criminal case yesterday at the statement of the deputy Derkach ... They will investigate. I know that this (Poroshenko’s actions. - RT ) can be qualified as high treason, ”the Ukrainian leader explained.
A RT source in the Servant of the People party said that Vladimir Zelensky has a negative attitude towards Petro Poroshenko.
“The authorities must respond to the appearance of the films, otherwise the president will again have to make excuses to journalists at his next press conference. Such an investigation is a political decision, and whether it will be brought to an end depends on the political will of Zelensky himself. Perhaps he expects that if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election, then this matter can be a move, ”said the party representative, recalling that Joe Biden could become Trump's rival in the US presidential election scheduled for autumn 2020.
- Vladimir Zelensky
- Reuters
- © Sergey Dolzhenko / Pool
Conversations with Biden
We are talking about films released on the eve of MP Andrei Derkach. According to him, they recorded Poroshenko’s conversations with Biden and Kerry, which took place at the end of 2015 and throughout 2016. According to Derkach, they testify to "the manual control of Ukraine in the personal interests of Biden by the hands of Poroshenko and members of the supervisory boards of state enterprises."
In particular, several entries are devoted to the resignation of the former Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Shokin. On one of the films, presumably, John Kerry asks to remove the Attorney General. Recall, Shokin conducted an investigation into the corruption schemes of the oil and gas company Burisma, whose board of directors included Joe Biden's son Hunter.
On another record, Poroshenko reported on the fulfillment of his obligations: he asked Shokin to resign, "despite the absence of any allegations of corruption and data regarding any illegal actions."
In the next audio recording, Biden allegedly described the conditions for providing Ukraine with funds in the amount of $ 1 billion: “If you have a new government and a new Attorney General, I will be ready to publicly sign obligations of one billion dollars.”
In addition, presumably, Poroshenko and Biden during the conversations touched on several more topics. In particular, the Ukrainian president was asked to nationalize Privatbank before Donald Trump came to power in the United States.
The information that the prosecutor general’s office has already opened a criminal case on high treason and abuse of power against Petro Poroshenko, confirmed the lawyer of the former president of Ukraine Ilya Novikov. According to him, this allegedly happened after Zelensky’s conversation with Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova.
“Criminal proceedings on the so-called Biden films were instituted tonight, which in itself in cases concerning the events of four years ago speaks of some particular interest on this issue of the leadership of the office of the Attorney General,” Strana.ua quotes him.
The lawyer also claimed Zelensky’s alleged interest in criminal proceedings against his predecessor. At the same time, the lawyer believes that negotiations recorded on published tapes are “normal practice” and there is no corpus delicti in them.
Poroshenko himself commented on the scandal. He claims that the films are allegedly fabricated. At the same time, the former president called Biden “a friend and ally of Ukraine,” and the publication of the recordings as “a large-scale special operation of the fifth column of the Kremlin against Ukraine,” aimed at undermining US support for Kiev.
The party "European Solidarity" also called the audio recording "Russian provocation." However, the source of RT in the party Poroshenko believes that the entries submitted by Derkach are genuine.
“The films are genuine, and there is no doubt about that. Poroshenko himself regards their appearance as an attempt to take revenge on the part of his opponents. But the chances that Poroshenko will be jailed for high treason are few. Too high-profile case, in which Biden himself should be called for interrogation. "
At the same time, The Washington Post, an American publication, published an article on Wednesday stating that Biden’s campaign headquarters sees Moscow’s publication of audio recordings as an attempt to ruin the reputation of the former vice president. In particular, it is noted that allegedly not the last role in the coverage and distribution of audio recordings was played by RT. In addition, Biden’s headquarters mentioned the alleged connection of Andrei Derkach with Russia.
RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan commented on these allegations: “Biden is us too.”
Biden - we too.
Svezhak from The Washington Post:
'Biden’s campaign headquarters sees Moscow’s latest attempt to stain Moscow’s former vice president’s reputation as something Russia has long been doing.
“The prospects for conviction Poroshenko are not so high”
The director of the Kiev Center for Political Studies and Conflictology, Mikhail Pogrebinsky, in an interview with RT noted that Poroshenko has already appeared in more than ten criminal cases. However, in his opinion, there is a political conspiracy between Zelensky and Poroshenko.
“He and his faction are needed for voting. When needed, they voted for the land and agreed. And all the persecution of Poroshenko instantly stopped. In two months, the new Prosecutor General never called him, although before that there were challenges. So there is a conspiracy of the new government with Poroshenko, ”the political scientist is convinced.
The information that appeared thanks to the films clearly indicates that Poroshenko committed a state crime. This opinion was expressed in conversation with RT by the deputy director of the Institute of the CIS countries Vladimir Zharikhin.
“Of course, these data will play a role in the already unfolding US election campaign. I think this action was initiated by the Trump team. But as for Poroshenko himself, I think that the prospects for his conviction for this crime are still low, ”Zharikhin added.