Writer, Andrew Higgins, tells us of the Trump scandal in
Ukraine.
The current Trump scandal has encouraged house speaker Nancy Pelosi to proceed with the Trump impeachment.
The house democrats are now on their way with vim and vigor, but don't expect Trump to be removed from office until 2021(January) Inauguration Day, at the earliest.
Because their own reelection is by far the major goal of senators and congressmen, the republican majority senate
will not vote to expel Trump from office so we must wait for the next election, then inauguration January 20, 2021.
Democrats and other Trump detractors seem to feel that an early change of president will come sooner than later.
Because our political parties remain at cross purposes and with a majority republican senate, we can expect a possible change of president not before January 20, 2021
If you want our congress to vote their true feelings, you must
be willing to vote for single term limits of 2,4 or 6 years.
Only then, will we have a truly honest vote from our members of congress.
.
3
Ukraine is not "Caught between the clashing geopolitical ambitions of Russia and the West".
It is a country with strong historic ties with Russia and and a rather poorly developed identity in which the US has invested enormous amounts of effort and money to turn it against Russia.
That money has been hugely destabilizing. So it is rather ironic to see that there is now a kind blowback happening that is hurting the US.
12
Josef Stalin cast a shadow over Ukraine that crosses generational memories like a sharp sword. The deliberate starvation of 10s of millions of Kulaks has hardened Ukrainian sensibilities to Russian dominance.
We, until Trump, stood with them in support of our once mutual values of freedom and independence. Hopefully, someday soon, we will regain our values. Until then, the Ukrainians will have to keep them alive for us.
11
I am amazed that US politicians on both sides do not seem to care how they are played by other countries.
Everywhere from the Middle to the far East where the US is trying to impose its ideas of democracy and freedom with force and money we find local players who know how to make nice with America and get rich on the American dollar.
Remember the palettes of 100-dollar bricks that disappeared in Iraq? ISIS took a huge chunk when they overran Mosul and emptied the bank vaults. The American 'friend' al-Maliki helped build Hezbullah. Bush 43 chose him to lead Iraq. The Al-Maliki family now is worth more than the Trump Organization. Their pockets are where the oil revenue ended up that was supposed to pay for Operation Iraqi Freedom according to VP Cheney.
Ukraine is no different. The West pays billions of dollars to contain Chernobyl, while the Ukrainian government did not mind to continue operating reactors of the same type, even the ones next to the dirty bomb. Ukraine did not care to pay its gas bill. The West did not get its gas for a while either. A crisis blows up into a civil war. The new president of Ukraine asks for more money while rich men buy influence inside the beltway.
The US may perceive itself as the puppet master on the world stage. In actuality, the puppets call the shots.
10
Hunter Biden's salary of $50,000 per month for a Ukrainian company owned by an oligarch seems to raise serious questions of Biden's conflict of interest. Of course, there is nothing special about this. If you follow the careers of many politicians' families, you will find success and careers which are not justified by the individual's resume. I would love a simple explanation, why was Hunter Biden hired for this job? What were his qualifications? Was there really no one else in the world who was more qualified?
10
I will be very interested to hear what Volker has to say. He was formerly associated with two powerful Republicans, W Bush and John McCain. It could be that he was seriously intetested in getting those Javelins to Ukraine. Like it or not, Trump is President, and his whims are going to determine whether or not Ukraine gets our help against Russia. Trump wants Rudy to get the dirt he thinks Ukraine has on Biden and the DNC and won't send the aid until he gets a chance to, So Ukraine goes to Volker, and Volker sets up the meeting. Does Volker think Rudy is going to be an honest broker? Or is he just grasping at straws trying to keep Russia from taking more of Ukraine? My inquiring mind wants to know. He may have the smoking quid pro quo the Republicans in the Senate seem to need.
1
I keep thinking about that undocumented, private conversation Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin held. The content of their discussion now, more than ever, needs to be investigated. Were promises made? Did Putin lay out a strategy?
6
All this furor over Hunter Biden and a board of director position he was probably unqualified for, but how many directors have no knowledge of the industry for which they sit on a board, tells us one thing.
We the people really need to look at who is sitting on boards of directors, especially at for profit organizations. How many are there simply because they have a family link to a politician or other important person, but no real knowledge of the industry or any thing else to actually bring to the board?
If boards have become the smoke and mirrors that corporate management uses to make it look like there is independent control over them, then we need to enact new laws. We need to set standards for selection to a board. Standards that will ensure that those who sit actually direct management and not simply rubber stamp what management puts in front of them. Any board with one or more members not meeting the standards would be ineligible to have its costs or the costs of management included as a business expense on their tax return.
This is a separate issue from whether or not Trump breached his duties to our nation.
We also need to look at the non profits set up by the wealthy and former politicians to determine whether they really exist to do good or simply to keep these people in the spot light.
13
@mjbr,
well said. But try to enforce oversight in a Ukrainian company with seat in Cyprus, both countries known for shady business practices.
4
The one connection that seems at the heart of Trump’s interest in Ukraine is Putin’s interest in Ukraine. The unexamined question here is to what degree Putin is directing Trump’s actions. The real objective of the pressure for dirt on the Bidens may be the withholding of military aid, not the other way around.
18
Ukraine is the buffer between the "Soviets" and Nato. Yes I know USSR is no longer in existence but a buffer between traditional enemies keep the status quo intact.
So when that buffer shifts westward it is no surprise that Russia invades so as to maintain the equilibrium.
Suffice it to say it is the most critical region in the world today. Think East Germany in the 40s, Korea inthe 50s, Vietnam in the 60s , Middle east in the 70s etc...
So it is vital to our interests to keep this country on the west's side. Hence the billion dollars of taxpayer money for military aid. And more to come. Open checkbook situation.
Which makes pressuring the leader of this country for personal gain an even more egregious crime. Not because it starves Ukraine of defense dollars but because it weakens our strategic interests.
Much like what is now happening in Syria the details of which are likely hidden in some top secret server.
9
>>> "So when that buffer shifts westward it is no surprise that Russia invades so as to maintain the equilibrium."
That didn't happen.
>>> So it is vital to our interests to keep this country on the west's side.
The reason that there are still "sides," nearly three decades after the breakup of the Soviet Union, is that we (the US) has been pursuing a policy of world domination that "requires" efforts to contain and, if possible, cripple all possible rivals.
The Wolfowitz Doctrine:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfowitz_Doctrine
5
I find it interesting that when Trump was at the UN recently he told Zelensky to make a deal with Putin. It’s clear that Trump still owes Putin for helping him get elected in 2016; that is the original quid pro quo.
Why would Zelensky make a deal with the devil?
33
Of course. With a constantly unroped cannon such as President Trump, Putin cannot help but to thank the gods that he has found such a gift as a Trojan horse of such exceptional use to further Russian interest in the region.
5
A few facts to be aware of about Ukraine. First, it is barely a country. It has been the battlefield of Eastern Europe. At one time Poland was strong and controlled the area. Up until World War I it was in the backwaters of the Austro-Hungarian empire - one part of the fragmented region was the Kingdom of Silesia ruled over by the Kingdom of Hungary In the depths of that area the Cossacks ruled. After WW II this area became a colony of the Soviets. In 1991 it declared its independence for the first time in centuries during the time of chaos in Russia. The Russians and NATO struggle against one another for military control of the area. The Russians are also now fighting for re-control of the part of the country that is populated by ethnic Russians just over their border. It is a country that is 29 years old and has already had one revolution and many years of outright war. It is at the crossroads of the flow of money and corruption. That is likely why so many powerful rulers are drawn to the area. It is also a good reason why the US should stay out of Ukraine.
34
@Common cause I think you need to hit the geography books. The "Kingdom of Silesia"? Silesia is a region of Central Europe where Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic meet, now part of Poland and it is nowhere near Ukraine and the Cossacks never "ruled" there. And it was never part of the Kingdom of Hungary. All of a sudden everyone is an expert on Ukraine.
33
Part of what is now Ukraine used to be the territory of the Zaparozniy Cossacks! Ukraine existed for many centuries as a region which was a part of another country!
5
@Peter You are right. My mistake and I appreciate your correction. I meant to refer to the Kingdom of Galicia which was under the rule of Hungary at one time and partly overlaps the territory of Ukraine. The Cossacks were also in this region and were an active military force right through WW II. The important point is that the people in the state of Ukraine are divided into a number of ethnic groups and have been ruled over the past several hundred years of their history by three different empires: the Autro-Hungarian, Polish-Lithuanian and Soviet empires and have had very little time of self rule in their history or any continuity of an independent national entity. The national borders have had very little historical continuity. The current political turmoil in this area is extremely complicated and not as straightforward as is often presented.
10
America, the Balkanized. Time to sort out the difference between history, hysteria, and histrionics.
Impeachment is not about the unimaginative, bad-faith, fantasy motivations which are being alluded to by people that make a lot of money to exacerbate conflict. I even suspect that there are a number of former Republicans, who are only registered Democrats because our democracy is not healthy enough to be voting in Republican primaries.
Uncharted waters are never a comforting place to be, but once you’re in them it’s best to keep a cool head. The future of the nation is more important than a single political figure, no matter who it is, or how much any of us have been led to fear our fellow American.
12
I believe Ukrainian crisis was result of the Obama's Administration mismanagement. Obama , in his usual manner , withdrew himself from direct involvement into Ukraine to avoid any responsibility. He wanted to protect his Nobel Prize image . As result, crisis was handed by Biden, person without official powers on the matter and with the direct conflict of interests through his son . He failed to honor and enforce, brokered by west and USA , agreement between the Ukrainian opposition and the government , and it resulted in the constitutional crisis ( coup d'etat ) which caused a territories secession . My country now torn apart by the civil war . Current political clique in Ukraine call it "Russian invasion" - to get access for the international aid which it use to keep conflict going. Eventually Ukraine crisis escalated into first degree geopolitical standoff and Biden made several very clumsy attempts to hide his involvement and pressed Ukrainian side into submission by using American aid as an instrument to affect Ukrainian prosecution( fact established beyond of any doubt) . I believe it is in the best interest of America to review USA involvement into Ukraine and investigate previous administration for the conflict of interests.
34
@uw / No Obama didn't want to "protect his Nobel Prize image" simply because he was as embarrased himself over the prize as much as everyone else were surprised. Your other Conspiracy Theories about the "Biden influence" etc over Ukraine is just ridiculous.
28
I thought Ukrainians spoke good English, according to the article
2
@Roger Holmquist
I see you , you are very intimate with Obama's head inside because you even more sure on what he actually was thinking )) Actually he has a habit to act withdrawn in foreign affairs , motive of his acting like that could be argued. not only in Ukrainian affairs but also in : a) Libya - remember Clinton Bengazi ? Russia "reset" was handled by McFaul , Syria - quite a few loonies need to mentioned . As per "others" theories you summarily dismissed. I just listed facts in the sequential timeframe order. So why it looks so conspicuous to you ? because for me , it is a display of incompetence and abuse of the remote poor country for a very shallow political gains in 2016 campaign. When reality looks conspiring on you you are in trouble))
Ukraine was on the right path until the Obama administration staged a regime-change coup in 2014 (spearheaded by the CIA, Hillary, Biden, Victoria Nuland, Samantha Powers and Susan Rice) to overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine.
In 2014 Victoria Nuland, former Assistant SoS for European and Eurasian Affair fueled the overthrow of a democratically elected government by deploying violent fascist political groups. This coup resulted in 13,000 deaths a quarter of them civilians, and as many as 30,000 were wounded in eastern Ukraine. Why wasn't the liberal mainstream media news irate about this? In fact, hardly a word was mentioned about this crime against humanity. And not a word was muttered about the fascist mercenaries used by the CIA to carry out this operation. And let's not overlook how Biden seized the moment as "Obama's point man" to arrange a sweetheart deal for his cokehead son Hunter to secure $50,000 each month from a Ukrainian gas company. And when the Ukrainian prosecutor initiated an investigation into slimy Hunter, creepy Joe threatened the Ukrainian Government by saying that the US would withhold a billion dollars in aid. Why isn't this considered an extortion scheme by the NYTimes?
The military/security/surveillance/corporate state and the political duopoly work hand-in-hand with the mainstream media news propagandizing the public 24/7 spreading disinformation and eliminating any data that would elevate political consciousness.
Wake up !
29
@Chris I'm mostly in agreement with you. However, seems to me you are wasting your breath as most Americans have been told and have accepted argument that democratic forces in Ukraine violently overthrew their democratically elected government because they yearned for a democratic elected government.
11
@Chris I have always thought that US/CIA has hoped to use Sevastopol as base for NATO/US navy. But Russians beat them to it when it annexed Crimea which had been part of Russia since 1783,
11
@Chris Again, the Trump crony playbook is in full effect here: disempower people by confusion: accuse one's rival of what you are accused of. Here is the real story: https://theintercept.com/2019/09/25/i-wrote-about-the-bidens-and-ukraine-years-ago-then-the-right-wing-spin-machine-turned-the-story-upside-down/
12
Ukraine is Ukraine because of geography. Unfortunately it has been continually invaded from the East (the Mongol Horde), the South (Crimean Khanate), the West (European powers), and has been a vassal state to Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia, etc. Plus there are ethnic and historic divisions within Ukraine. Eastern Ukraine is heavily Russian, while Western Ukraine is full of Ukrainian Nationalists with fascist tendencies who welcomed the Nazis during WWII because the Soviets starved them to death in the 1930s. Russia invaded Eastern Ukraine to make sure Ukraine does not become a NATO member.
6
Ukraine's future clearly lies with the European Union, especially Poland and the other countries in the belt stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In such a form, the EU would be indisputably the world's larget economic and potentially military superpower. It will require an over-arching concept overcoming a millenium of historical memories distorted by nationalism; a century ago, "Workers of the world unite!" had that potential, but now it will need to be something different.
2
I can only imagine what Trump-Putin phone conversations would show us of the President's larger world view of Ukraine.
Or those private conversations Trump's had with Putin - without handlers or translators present.
As an American, I'm very worried. As a Ukrainian? I'd be terrified.
8
What I cannot understand is how Trump, having finally escaped the Trump Tower meeting trap and Russia probe, would so easily fall into another trap.
This does not bode well for the U.S.
4
I went to grade school with the Manafort clan in New Britain Ct.
we had many Ukrainian students in class. Refugees after the War in the 1950’s.
So Manafort had a relation with this countries people long before adulthood. I keep telling journalists there is a super big story connection in New Britain Ct. for a lot of things.
Look up the history of Russian , Polish and Ukrainians in that city prior to the degradation of immigration policy and their settlements.
Russians have taken advantage of immigrants there to this day.
Investigate the links.
In other words Ukrainian people are being pawns in an international crime syndicate. Shame on the political class.
5
A great encapsulation of Ukraine's past and present as a crossroads nation. As corrupt in many ways as its neighbor, at least Ukraine keeps trying out new political elites like new fall fashions, rather than recycling one, single police-state solid blue denim, like Russia. For the first time in history, it's punching well above its weight and starting to thrive -- I hope. Been years since I traveled there, but there's a vitality and an openness on the Kreshchatik that simply doesn't exist in Moscow.
3
WHAT I FIND MOST CYNICAL Is the quote of a Ukranian official at the end of the piece saying that, Now you know what we are capable of. Referring to the impeachment of Trump. Well, I think that the US Congress had something to do with the impeachment of Trump. My guess is that in the matter of the impeachment of Trump, Ukranian politics may be more stable for a brief period of time. Until the US gets rid of the cancer strangling it.
1
Ukraine and most ex-USSR countries are still corrupt and still have the elite and the poor. Go outside of any of the major cities (Moscow, Kiev, Budapest, Baku, etc.) and you will still see the poor and not the bling of the big cities. Even in Moscow you can see an old lady selling three potatoes at the exit of a subway station.
Not much progress has been made other than making the rich richer. Sad but true, this is also the case in a lot of other countries. And they do love America...
2
Certainly Trump deserves impeachment over this. Don't let the Bidens off the hook though. Democrats and others deserve to know why the vice-president's son was paid $50,000 a month to serve on the board of a Ukrainian corporation. Saying that there is no evidence of wrong-doing just looks like Biden's lawyers being smarter than Giuliani, no surprise.
4
Hunter Biden earned every penny of the $850K he was paid to sit on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. This, obviously, had nothing to do with his last name. He has impeccable qualifications for such a role, listed below:
In addition to that wonderful CV, he is an alcoholic, a drug addict, kicked out of the Navy, in short a pathetic human being in every way. As an article in The New Yorker said, Sleepy Joe Biden dealt with his son’s obvious conflicts of interest by....ignoring them.
Do you think Trump may be right? Do you think Hunter and Sleepy Joe should be investigated for corruption? Apparently Hunter did something similar in China (use family influence) to enhance his street cred with the Chinese.
8
Trump’s marching orders from his Russian master are to destabilize Ukraine, cut off US military aid, and continue to undermine the truth about the Russian attacks on our elections. Trump did everything in his power to please his Russian master Putie and thought, hey, why not throw in a little more help from foreigners to throw another election. Dump Trump.
3
It’s an “ equal opportunity “ nation.
To quote the author of this piece:
Victor Pinchuk, had secured 20 minutes of Mr. Trump’s time — and a heap of flattery from the future president, who described him as “a very, very special man” — with a donation of $150,000 to Mr. Trump’s now defunct foundation.
Mr. Pinchuk, a steel magnate long enmeshed with Ukraine’s business and political elite, had earlier donated more than $10 million to the Clinton Foundation and been invited to dine at the Washington home of Hillary and Bill Clinton.
3
I lived in Kiev for 5 years and saw the plundering of the country up close. 50% of the gdp was controlled by 8 people (oligarchs}. Corruption is in the dna---bribery's been a way of life for centuries. I ran an eatern European hedge fund and everyone here was on the take. Pinchuk, mentioned in the story, is the son-in-law of Leonid Kuchma, who robbed the country blind as president, then shared the loot with Pinchuk and family. Biden's kid took advantage, no doubt. But what Trump did was beyond atrocious....taking advantage of an invaded country via the extortion route. Lowest of the low. Like robbing a blind beggar, a poor country fighting for its life. Trump showed his true colors. Hopefully, he will pay the bill now. It's long over-due.
8
On December 13, 2013 Hillary Clinton’s undersecretary of state, Victoria Nuland, after three visits to Ukraine in five weeks, divulged that the USA was spending $5 billion to encourage businessmen and officials who wanted to break Ukraine away from any relationship with Russia and open it up for its “western” friends via EU and then NATO. It succeeded. It was Nuland, during the bloody Maidan Square uprising, who said (on a bugged telephone talk with US ambassador Pyatt), “I think Yats is the guy…” In the blink of an eye (and those billions) “Yats” (Arseniy Yatseniuk) was indeed the guy, prime minister of a now US-friendly, Russia-hostile Ukraine. Obama tasked Biden to follow up.
That history underlies our current scandals.
In other words, the current state of the corrupt coup regime
is at least partly the result of US strategic efforts to fragment Russia. This is not the recognized in your reporting.
7
Please it's "Ukraine" not "the Ukraine. If you want to know about Ukraine and its people, please use the name correctly, don't be like Trump. Don't be like others pretending to be of Ukrainian heritage. We Ukees know the correct usage and what is insulting.
24
@lou andrews,
perhaps it's because of his Teutonic influence. It's 'the Ukraine' in German, I suppose from the land inside/under the border, the border with the Muslims that was.
the Ukraine, the Crimea, the south of France. The usage for the first two sort of sounded right sense when the two countries were supposedly provinces of the USSR.
Even the seemingly pretentious “south of France”is not that different from Americans constant referral to “the South” in their own country.
But it is a strange word thing. We don’t say “the Belarus” or “the Armenia”.
1
@lou andrews adding on to that, please write “Kyiv” and not “Kiev”. It’s the 21st century- Ukraine has been independent for almost 3 decades.
1
unique,
In our state a Nonaffiliated voter, aka: Independent can request any ballot be it Republican, Democrat, Green etc. but whichever ballot is chosen in the Primary is also given in the general; no switch ups for that particular voting period; this way we try to keep it honest.
Since Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union it's become part of a tug of war between economic interests in Russia and those in the EU.
Russia saw Ukraine as part of its natural sphere of influence, not unlike our views of Latin America. But emboldened by NATO's move to Russia's border, the EU led by Germany saw the Ukraine as a source of investment and exploitation.
The Ukraine has two things that both sides want; an educated but cheap labor force and untapped natural resources. In fact they may hold the largest fracking reserves in Europe.
Energy hungry Germany wants that natural gas and oil for itself while leaving the drilling mess in another country. Russia wants to bring that resource to the West but only through its companies and pipelines.
And then the US stepped in. The State Department invested 5 billion dollars in NGO's to "promote democracy" in the Ukraine, but as usual wanted a lot more than democracy. We openly talked about Ukraine as another NATO member cementing the encirclement of Russia.
Putin responded predictably with a mini invasion and an appeal to the third of the population that is Russian speaking and who had just seen right wing elements in Kiev ban their language.
It was also clear that Putin was not about to lose their only Black Sea naval base.
So, there was a US aided coup, then the coup leader was removed and replaced by an elected president, who himself was voted out amidst corruption charges. And the rest as they say is history.
16
Could you please provide an official source on the Russian language ban in Ukraine? Otherwise it's just another repeat of the Russian narrative. I am curious to see what will be your reference on this. Thanks.
I can understand Ukraine has been a geographically and historically unstable country. The country has to depend on a big county to survive. If Ukraine wants to be an independent democratic country, American politicians and business people should help the country sincerely. It is disgraceful that the President of the US, which is the most powerful country in the world, has been taking advantage of the weakness of the country in difficulty.
15
"a poor, dysfunctional country on Europe’s eastern fringe...It’s only natural that some players will be seeking protection in the West,”
This is about more than just 'protection'. Rather it appears that some Ukrainian businessmen, who are not as 'poor and dysfunctional' as their country seems, use the money they make from the West to make more friends in the West and, with their help, even more money from the West.
Irrespective of the legality of young Mr. Biden's extravagant pay package for whatever services he provided to Ukraine, his employ bears the whiff of nepotism and compromat. Perhaps the elder Biden should reconsider his run for higher office.
17
@Peter Melzer
A whiff is not as strong as the stench we've been dealing with regarding Trump's adult children.
2
Although he isn't close to matching what the Clintons earned, Hunter Biden showed us how to monetize political connections. That the Clinton Foundation was a similar effort is demonstrated by the fact that donations and grants to the foundation dropped precipitously between 2016 and 2017.
10
So corruptions has become a business in the ukraine with high dividends for american robber barons aka politicians? Which also happen to use this money to infiltrate the american government. And obviously this revolting scheme applies to both parties, the republicans are just more greedy.
It seems like Trump and his entourage highly rely on money laundering. This is a shame, the country, that is supposed to be the beacon of rectitude had become the scavengers for corrupt regimes. Seems like this is the reason why Trump has become politician in the first place, becoming the CEO for a money laundering conglomerate.
We desperately need an international agency against corruption, with the ability to seize wealth and assets, which had been financed by shady transaction. I would like to see foreign nations claiming their money back by international laws, i want to see the american oligarchs being sentenced for money laundering. I just want all these robbers, hypocrites, populists hit where it hurts most, by their inability to get rich in an honest way.
13
Could there actually be, as Trump claims, something about the Bidens, father and son, that should be investigated? Hunter goes to Ukrain, no previous connection to the place and, boom,,he's on the board of a company whose sole business seems to be is importing gas. From where? Russia of course.
Well, nothing wrong with that. Except that Hunter had none of the usual qualifications for the job, e.g.,experience or knowledge of the business. So the only apparent purpose of hiring him (he was paid for his "work") would seem to be to gain political influence in the U.S. through his father who just happens to have been vice president of the U.S. at the time.
Is that illegal? I don't know, but I think it should, along with Trump's business dealings, be investigated.
42
@archer717, enter Nord Stream 2. The current Ukrainian conflict began with Ukraine unwilling to pay her gas bill with Russia. The Russians stopped delivering, but caved in because the same pipeline feeds the West with much more lucrative returns. Russia did not want to lose that revenue stream.
To end the dependency on Ukraine, the Germans devised a plan to build a second pipeline under the Baltic Sea, circumventing Ukraine. The project has been christened Nord Stream 2. Successive US administrations of both parties, beginning with Bush 43 via Obama and now Trump have strongly opposed Nord Stream 2. The Ukrainians must have hired the right people in the US.
9
@archer717
Trump - and your - attempt at distraction has no bearing on the impeachment case.
Trump is guilty of asking a foreign government to investigate a political rival. Worse yet, he used our tax dollars as bait. That is MASSIVE abuse of power.
16
@archer717 Hunter Biden is a lawyer with international business experience, as a consultant. Think "McKinsey" consultant with an American law degree.
That is considered relevant experience, for a company that probably wants to sell more products to the West.
12
This article doesn't answer a very basic question. If Trump wanted to investigate Biden & Son, why take it all the way to Ukraine? Why not simply hire someone from the US?
14
Because a person in the US has no legal jurisdiction in Ukraine.
1
I thought he hired Giuliani to meddle just as Hillary hired MI5-ish.
2
Building a wall - and getting Russia to pay for it, no less...
Sounds like political genius...
Except the sound system is so terrible, it's hard to tell, sometimes...
1
Operation "perfect call" reeks of Kremlin tradecraft.
Seeing to compromise the Ukraine leader via Trump's illegal "favor" and the possible loss of arms needed to protect his nation from more Russian aggression is "perfect".
How was Putin to know that Trump would be so cavalier and incompetent as his operative?
Live and learn, Vlad.
22
I see the first blot has appeared on the New Ukrainian President who obviously is not as "squeaky clean" as the Dems and others are saying.
The IMF has refuse to set up a new lending agreement citing the corruption of official in the new government. Some of the new President's security officials have already resigned. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/27/world/europe/ukraine-corruption.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
The IMF is worried about the Zelensky's close ties with mob boss/oligarch Igor Kolomoisky who bankrolled Zelensky's campaign. Many of the new President's close advisors are connected to Igor Kolomoisky.
This is the same Kolomoisky who is involved in the Burisma Holdins asset siphoning scheme to the tune of $1.8 billion which Hunter Biden was also involved in.
16
Why was deep throat given credibility?
A comedian elected as president in Ukraine and "The Apprentice" dude elected as USA president stews corruptions.
9
Trump should be impeached. But the House also needs to subpoena and investigate the Biden claims as well if the process is to have any non-partisan credibility.
14
@Observer
From the Washington Post:
“A former top Ukrainian prosecutor, whose allegations were at the heart of the dirt-digging effort by Rudolph W. Giuliani, said Thursday he believed that Hunter Biden did not run afoul of any laws in Ukraine.”
The Ukrainians already did what Trump and Giuliani wanted. The problem for them was the Ukrainians didn’t give the answer they wanted.
10
@Observer
yes but the whistle blower has not called out hunter biden but trump.
2
Why? This is Trump’s typical ploy to muddy the waters.
I have heard and read good reporting that unequivocally determined that not only did VP Biden not help the company on whose board his son sat, but that he actively sought to remove the corrupt “ prosecutor” who was prepared to give that company a pass. Really important that we not let Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations and innuendo become accepted.
13
We never did see Trump's tax returns. He has foreign investments in at least 16 countries. Trump assumes he can not only illegally use his office to profit his own business interests, he also thinks that this entitles him to use foreign influence for his political gain. We are missing the financial evidence for his impeachment, but now have the political half of evidence for his impeachment. Barr is acting like Trump's personal lawyer in defiance of the Constitution and the American public. Investigators will need to connect the many arms of the Trump octopus that has itself enmeshed in financial and political interests that run counter to the Constitution and are illegal. Ukraine is indeed an important piece to show America the corruption that substantiates his impeachment. May it display to the American public why he is unfit for the presidency.
29
Most Trump supporters (and many others) don't understand why digging up dirt on a political opponent from a foreign country constitutes a threat to national security. It does; here's why. A president who engages in unlawful bargaining with a foreign country could potentially be blackmailed into supporting that country with money, arms, or even military force, against the strategic national interest of our country. Had this whistleblower not stepped forward, Trump could be in that position right now. Indeed, Putin's Russia may have Kompromat (compromising materials) against Trump already. This is the reason that anyone who takes national security seriously (which presumably includes GOP senators) should take a long, hard look at the necessity of impeachment.
45
@John Duvall Only that such bargaining is not unlawful and it happens all the time between heads of state. Each negotiation is a bargaining. I give you this, you give me that.
2
The idea that Joe and Hunter Biden have no legal jeopardy for the arrangements that led to Hunter Biden's lucrative employment by the Ukrainian gas company may be legally correct. But that "legality" in itself seems to me be a sign of systemic corruption.
The idea that this gas company came up with Hunter Biden's name unrelated to Joe Biden's position in the government of the United States is ridiculous. Someone please tell me otherwise. " . . Hunter earned at least $850,00 . . ." Hunter could have taught the master a thing or two on The Apprentice.
What else does the Biden arrangement carry except an odd odor of influence peddling and quid pro quo? And worse, leaves a sour taste for the thought that the Biden's were simply engaged in what some people might consider good business practices.
And this comment is coming from someone who opposes Donald Trump's behavior on every level required by human decency. If the Bidens were simply following good business practices, those practices themselves are suspect.
29
@Christopher Beaver
Except that VP Joe Biden didn't help the named gas company. Seems they only got a lawyer with international law experience but not the influence of the VP Biden. Seems they didn't realize they were an honest family.
Ukraine is ground zero for a lot of corruption. Started in the last administration. Country destabilized & invaded by Russia. It was also involved in fisa warrants & surveillance of Trump, Steel Dossier, and some shady money. Kerry’s son as well at Romney’s campaign advisor are all tied in with Hunter Biden. More names to come. Trump is real close to answers so the Dem’s and media pull out all the stops.
7
@JOSEPH
no steele dossier came from the ex spy who was in London. and the last admin in Ukraine was the Russian one that was overthrown.
3
Ukraine was destabilized by the West, that supported the coup.
1
The Obama administration funded a coup in the Ukraine. This was part of an attempt to create an "enemy state" on Russia's border. And an attempt to capture control of Russian pipelines and imposed a tax on them. The first succeeded somewhat and the second failed.
11
No one comes out clean from this piece. Things are definitely not black or white. There is a longer disturbing story here of "gift" and favor transactions, of fortunes made, which while perhaps strictly "legal" do have a questionable odor, especially given the poverty of the country. The Clintons ($60 million gift), Giuliani, Hunter Biden (his high fees for what?), Manafort (ditto), Trump all have been playing along and benefitting handsomely. In corrupt Ukraine, and I suppose in many other global playgrounds. The swamps are global and all sides enmeshed in them. I am sometimes taken aback by the righteousness of so many (naive?) Americans regarding their side and party.
15
@tdb
Yes, people are so attached to the left vs right charade they can't see the corruption on both sides.
Right and wrong don't change because it benefits people who share your particular ideology. What foreign leader will ever feel comfortable discussing anything with any future president when the CIA has the ability to leak the classified discussion. The same people who black out entire documents in the name of national security, are free to leak classified information when it's damaging to a president they dislike?
Why can't anyone see the issue here? Because they dislike Trump? Nothing was said that jeopardizes our national security but this impeachment charade definitely does.
Please think of the long term damage and not the shore term gains of attacking someone you disagree with. It can and will go the other way in the future. Did we learn nothing from the Russian investigation?
We are at a fork in the road as a country and the paths are clearly marked. We need to stop marching along and looked at the signs. It's equal justice under the law or chaos and civil war. The country as a whole must chose and we are running out of time to decide.
1
The Ukraine and Russia are failed states. When communism itself failed, the oligarches established a new order -- state-based kleptocracy.
Their governments have the veneer of functioning states, but corruption is so pervasive, they do not serve their ordinary people. Only the elites have any voice with power struggles and criminal leverage.
This situation has gone on so long that ordinary citizens accept oligarchy and wide-spread corruption as the new normal.
Now Trump wants to improse this new normal on the United States. Trump, and anyone who stands with him, are traitors to American democracy. If impeachment fails, we must votes this element out of office. Otherwise, we will witness the death of the great American experiment.
14
>>> "Their governments have the veneer of functioning states, but corruption is so pervasive, they do not serve their ordinary people. Only the elites have any voice with power struggles and criminal leverage."
There's more of that going around than some folks realize.
"Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism."
Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens
Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page
https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf
2
Earlier this month, during a bipartisan meeting in Kiev, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) delivered a pointed message to Ukraine's new president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Murphy made clear - by his own account - that Ukraine currently enjoyed bipartisan support for its U.S. aid but that could be jeopardized if the new president acquiesced to requests by President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani to investigate past corruption allegations involving Americans, including former Vice President Joe Biden's family.
6
@Joe
guiliani wants the Ukraine to say they interfered with the 2016 election and not Russia. talk about not getting over the fact that it was putin that had servers hacked and interfered with the election and trump wants that gone.
4
Wilbur Ross asks why an anonymous whistleblower should be given credibility. It should be pointed out that the whistleblower is not anonymous to the Inspector General, who deems him/her to be credible. Nice political spin, Wilbur, but maybe you should ask if the Inspector General should be given credibility. I would say the most would agree yes to that question.
I know logic is lost to the average American voter, but maybe the press should point out the above?
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@Will Hogan
You do realize second hand hearsay obtained by a CIA officer is not what whistle blower protection was intended for correct? Can you not see how this sets a dangerous precedent that can be exploited in the future? There was nothing said on that call that jeopardizes our national security. Do you think leaders of other country's will talk freely with future presidents when rogue dissidents are free to leak any details they like? Much of which turned out to be false or maliciously exaggerated.
This is not how our constitutional republic was intended to operate. The pendulum was intended to swing freely in opposite directions. You don't sabotage the mechanism when you don't like the direction of the current swing. Do you really think our government was free from corruption when Trump arrived?
All of this hypocrisy and double dealing is absolutely appalling. These sham investigations are doing way more damage to this country that Trump could ever to with two terms in office. Trump says a lot of things I don't particularly care for but please tell me one thing has he done that has damage this country?
5
@RSB The President was apparently trying to use the money you and I pay in taxes to force the leader of an allied nation to provide personal political benefit to himself. If that doesn’t bother you, it should. And the Whistle Blower Act is intended to protect people from retaliation when reporting criminal activity, which is exactly what happened in this case. Given our President’s public comments on what he thinks should happen to this particular whistle blower, he will need all the protection he can get.
9
@RSB
Please....
The list is too long and I believe none of it would make a difference to you anyway.
When all you see is corrupt and manipulated, then it all begins to look normal.
Um, forgive my ignorance but why should the US invest so much in Ukraine instead of focusing more on our Mexican and Central American neighbors? Don’t we have more than our share of problems closer to home? How much is it worth to keep Putin out of Ukraine? Wonder how we would feel if Moscow or Beijing were providing significant military assistance to Mexico.
26
@One Eyed Man Since much of Russia's transport of gas to Western Europe transit through Ukraine, Kiev's importance is tied to US energy policy to disrupt Europe's dependence on Moscow to meet its energy needs.
IOW, it's about energy, again!
7
@One Eyed Man
Your analogy isn't exactly apt. To be an accurate one, you should ask, "Imagine the US was waging a proxy war inside Mexico with covert US soldiers, tanks and artillery with the goal of annexing northern Mexico for the US and installing a US puppet government in the rest of Mexico. Now imagine Russia was providing token military assistance (a few advisors and some equipment) to Mexico."
6
@One Eyed Man
Its a matter of keeping a revanchist dictator in check until the combination of low birth rate and high death rate forces the Russians focus on bed pans and hospice care.
1
Good try to missrepresent history from an Amerucan perspective, but fact is that Ukraine definetly had closer ties to Russia in recent history than to other European countries and certainly no connections to the US.
16
@heinrichz: Exactly correct. Even more than that, eastern Ukraine and Crimea are, quite simply, Russian, in every way that matters, and they have been for a *lot* longer than recent history.
10
@heinrichz- a blatant falsehood. period, no need to say anymore.
2
@Douglas "Into the Valley of Death rode the Six Hundred." Europe and Russia have used that area to kill each other for a long time. Remember the Crimean War? It brought together the armies of nations that only a generation earlier had been killing each other in Belgian fields. I'm not sure you could get Crimeans and Ukrainians to agree that they are Russian...
It's pretty well known Trump and the Republicans lost most Ukrainian Americans support and votes by their steadfast support and praise of Putin and his policies. Also in this article Trump insults Ukrainians everywhere by calling the country by the disparaging name- "the" Ukraine. It's "Ukraine" Mr. Trump, get that straight. this article does get one thing right, that no one really knew of Ukraine prior to it's "Orange Revolution". When i was a kid when asked where my parents were from and i answered "Ukraine". I would always get a blank stare and asked "What's Ukraine"? Ukees everywhere will remember Trump , we have a long memory given our past. We never forget our friends and especially never forget our enemies and those who betrayed us. Trump and the Republicans take heed. You will lose big time in 2020, Russians might welcome you but most Ukrainians won't, except for the corrupt ones.
55
My feelings exactly. Thank you for putting them into words. A Ukee in Texas.
6
Andrew Higgins locates Ukraine "on Europe's eastern fringe".
I disagree.
From the eastern most point of Ukraine to the Ural Mountains--the dividing line between Europe and Asia--is roughly 1050 miles [1700km].
The Ural Mountains are on Europae's fringe, not Ukraine.
17
Ukraine is neither poor nor dysfunctional. It is a middle class second world country ( with thriving tech sector) that happens to suffer sporadic civil war on its' eastern fringes.
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@Blaine Zuver It's always dangerous to live next to the cave of a large bear.
Am I the only one who finds it actually an interesting question why Ukraine’s largest natural gas producer paid Joe Biden’s son, who has no expertise in Ukraine or in gas, $60,000 a month as an absentee non-exec director?
73
I also wonder what Hunter Biden was supposed to do to earn that kind of cash. That seems like a great question.
Mind you, whatever Hunter was up to, I don’t think it excuses Trump’s behavior. The man solicited the help of a foreign leader to undermine a domestic political rival. He put US foreign policy goals second to his personal political agenda.
Those are impeachable offenses. They evidence corruption that needs to be exposed and rooted out.
But while we are at it , sure, let’s expose whatever corruption, whatever influence peddling Hunter Biden was involved in. It’s a legitimate part of the story.
22
How much are the children of Trump being paid by their board memberships? Also wasn’t trumps fixer being paid by a whole host of companies? And what about the Trump hotel?
20
@Michael Sorensen. Yes.
4
Why is Ukraine so important to Trump and Putin? It's at the heart of Trump-Russia, as I note here https://realcontextnews.com/how-cohens-and-manaforts-ukraine-ties-tell-the-deeper-story-of-trump-russia-and-the-mueller-probe/ Also, as Giuliani embarrasses himself over Ukraine and Biden, a look at Rudy's own shady ties to Ukraine and the Russian mafia https://realcontextnews.com/rudy-giulianis-kislin-connection-raises-issues-for-his-role-as-trumps-russia-lawyer-exclusive-analysis/ And with Trump using his official power as POTUS in conducting foreign policy to target Joe Biden, we may have his most explicit attempt to make govt into his own personal political tool for hurting his political enemies, part of a trend with him/GOP I note here https://realcontextnews.com/trump-gop-destroying-the-pillars-of-democracy/ On impeachment, I believe that Trump should have been impeached some time ago, but practical considerations make this issue much more complicated, as I noted before here https://realcontextnews.com/the-impeachment-of-donald-trump-russias-victory/
12
Part of the problem is that neither Ukraine nor its neighbors are wholly convinced that it can legitimately be regarded as a separate and unitary country. The Ukrainian language is only spoken routinely in the west. Its near relative, Russian, is spoken in the east, and many residents of eastern Ukraine have divided allegiances. Most Russians sincerely regard Ukraine as culturally, and by extension politically, a part of Russia. Crimea is not ethnically Ukrainian; it was tacked onto Ukraine in Soviet times for administrative convenience.
The great ongoing legacy of the Soviet empire is corruption. The Soviet apparatchiks may be gone but the legacy of their corruption lives on. Actually, of course, in many cases the same apparatchiks are still there; only the nameplates on the doors have changed.
A weak sense of Ukrainian national identity was historically inevitable. Ukraine is not only surrounded by more powerful imperial players, but the country itself is mostly flat rich agricultural land. The rich land attracted invading armies, and there was little in the terrain to slow them down. Russia in the east, and Poland and Austria-Hungary to the west. Today's Lviv was yesterday's Lvov, and before that Lemberg. Making alliances with foreign lords has a long history.
The bright side to the current Putin era of instability and pressure may be that it forces Ukrainians to decide how badly they want to be an independent country. Freedom is not truly free, as they are learning.
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@woofer A weak sense of national identity? You must be kidding. Have you ever met a single Ukrainian, or lived in Ukraine? Well, I'll have you know that Ukrainians are convinced they are a legitimate independent state, and whether they speak Russian or Ukrainian does not matter even a bit in this discussion.
31
@woofer: You seem to understand this at least a bit, woofer, but to clarify and make it clear to others:
The majority of the residents of eastern Ukraine are ethnic Russians and consider themselves Russian. If Russia were willing to annex the Donbass region (it has refused to do so), the locals would overwhelmingly approve. They do not trust the reactionary (many actively neo-Nazi) elites in charge of western Ukraine and are not interested in sharing a national identity with them. It won't happen.
Likewise, Crimea is Russian. It has been Russian (at least) since Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet were founded in 1783. There was never even a slight chance that Russia would agree to lose its now 235-year-old naval base.
Also, the people of Crimea tried, on multiple occasions following the breakup of the USSR, to separate from Ukraine, either as an autonomous republic or as an administrative district of Russia. Kiev blocked them on each occasion. When the referendum on annexation by Russia was held in 2014, they overwhelmingly approved. They really did and all of the nonsense you may have heard about a coerced election is just that: nonsense. There was never a chance Crimeans would have voted differently.
22
@woofer- this due to Stalin and Kruschev's mass de-Ukrainization efforts during the 1930's - through the 1960's. most of Eastern Ukraine is of Russian origin, so of course the will speak Russian. From Kiev westward it's mostly Ukrainian and these past 10 years Ukrainian is mandatory on all signs, official transcripts and notices and encouraged to be spoken publicly even in Kiev though in Kiev it is a hard thing to do given all the years of Russianization efforts by the former communist Ukrainian governments. One thing that brings most true Ukrainians together regardless of their religion or location , is the hatred of Russia, past transgressions by Russia will never be forgotten, that is the glue that holds a fragile Ukraine together, if the eastern part wants to secede well, let them and the rest of Ukraine can be free of Russia's influence. The closest analogy would be Ireland and Northern Ireland, though there it's more of a religious conflict than secular.
17
A good article that reveals the curious position of Ukraine in Europe.
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall most Eastern European nations chose the EU over Russia – and with that decision they have seen the most remarkable rise in prosperity and freedoms.
Ukraine could never decide. It’s loyalties were split. And while the world moved on, Ukraine withered. Today income per capita income in Poland is three times higher than in Ukraine. A Romanian passport holder enjoys the right to live and work anywhere in the EU, while a Ukrainian national can’t even visit London without a tourist visa.
The choice was never complex – Europe, however challenged, always offered a stable and prosperous future. Russia, only interference and poverty.
34
@Charlie The main difference between Ukraine and Poland is that Poland was it's own country under communism. Ukraine was a state in the Soviet Union and extracting itself from Russia and Russians has been much more difficult. Just having to fight a 5 year war as Russia tries to take over territory it feels it should have because of this history has negatively affected the economy.
39
@Judy Weller, You are incorrect. Crimea was a part of the Russia in the USSR until 1954. Donbas and Odessa were never part of Russia but components of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the USSR.
4
Odessa was part of Czarist Russia. The Czar had a palace there and the family often vacationed there. A port was built so the Czar could sail his yacht to Odessa when they went there for vacations.
The geographical boundaries of Imperial Russia should not be confused with the boundaries of the USSR. The period from WW1 to the collapse of the USSR was period of great boundary instability!
1
This account says Trump allies "asserted, with little evidence, that Mr. Biden used his position as vice president to prevent Ukraine from investigating his son,"
Correction: " No evidence". In truth, the facts support the exact opposite.
But I can imagine that Putin and his FSB cohorts are right now dangling in front of all takers, faked documents and ops that would smear and harm . Gee, I wonder who'd be first in line? Trump and Rudy likely have already asked for "favors".
58
@Dennis The plutocrat Hunter worked for is as unsavory as any other of the modern day Post Soviet Plunderers. The Bidens had to have known how really ethically challenged he is. Whether or not Joe tried to influence the investigation he certainly should have known how bad this looks for his son and him as well. Cannot believe this looks helps Bide. Bet next poll cements Warren as the new front runner.
11
@ Dennis - A reasonable person might ask, what qualifications does Hunter Biden have to earn $850,000 per year or to be on the board of a major corporation? Other than being the son of the Vice President of the United States that is. Waiting with baited breath for evidence of such qualifications.
7
The last thing this struggling nation needs is to be entangled with Trump. He defiles everything he touches. If Ukraine is lost to Putin it will be on Trump.
94
@Robert O. Trump does have the reverse Midas touch. It would be more correctly called the dross touch.
This is a good article, but paints a somewhat false picture regarding the relationship between Ukrainians and Russians. Kiev, the capital of Ukraine was the original capital of Russia, moved to Moscow only to prevent it from being vulnerable to the Mongols among others. Cities like Odessa, which historically were populated by people of diverse ethnic backgrounds typically spoke Russian, not Ukrainian, which was a language more commonly spoken by rural people. And for most of modern history (the Czarist era and Soviet era) Ukraine was a region of a larger empire, not a country per se. And while many Ukrainians (especially in the west of the country) see affinity with the peoples of Poland and Lithuania and even Austria, eastern Ukraine has a greater affinity for Russia and for Orthodox Christianity rather than Catholicism.
84
@Middleman MD
Spot on analysis.
16
@Middleman MD The capital of Ukraine is Kyiv.
7
@Middleman MD
Kyiv (the proper spelling), not Kiev (the obsolete, Russified spelling) was NOT the "original capital of Russia." It WAS the capital of Kyivan Rus, an expansive empire that encompassed territories that are now part of modern Ukraine and Russia.
32
The Times has just written a history of Ukraine that not only helps us understand its geopolitical paradigm but also reveals the social and psychological traits of its people. There is a vulnerability that is almost inherent and innate. How can it not be exploited and manipulated by the corrupt from within or the more powerful nation-state lusting for total control of its European neighbor? Enter Donald Trump. He knows the weak, make no mistake. Most likely that is because he is weak himself. Yes, Hunter Biden and even the Clintons knew there was money to be made in Ukraine. But they are not the sitting president. Keep that in mind, FOX News and Republican supporters of Mr. Trump. There is a difference and a degree of exploitation. And there is a Constitution which should never be abused.
45
@Kathy Lollock
No excuses or casuistry. Everyone (prominent Republicans and Democrats) has drunk from the gold punch that Ukrainian corrupt players offer (for whatever reasons--patronage, image protection, opportunism, etc). This is a complex picture, not a black and white one.
2
Interesting that the Clintons got 10 million from Pinchuk while Trump got 150k. Who was the better deal maker?
27
Or who was more corrupt?
7
Wasn't it Trump's right-hand man Paul Manafort ( now incarcerated for other evils) who's disinformation campaign deliberately festered the civil war going on over there now?
36
@kat: Mostly it was American and Allied support for the coup that overthrew the elected government that resulted in the subsequent (and ongoing) civil disturbances.
From 2014:
"It's not Russia that's pushed Ukraine to the brink of war"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/30/russia-ukraine-war-kiev-conflict
5
@kat Indeed!
It's too bad about Ukraine and such wasted potential that country and its people could be. From my personal dealings with them, they seem to be much more down to earth, humble, savvier, and earnest than the arrogant, haughty Russians, or closed off, ultra-conservative, Hungarians and Poles. Unlike those countries, Ukrainians push and have pushed back against far-right authoritarianism, bigotry, and populism and actually do try to aim for being an open, tolerant, free, Westernized Democracy. Unlike their neighbors lately, most Ukrainians want and welcome EU influence and membership, foreign immigration, investment, and innovation, and want the corruption, organized crime, and Russian/far-right meddling to end.
Hopefully, Ukraine and Ukrainians will fight off all of the demons that have been plaguing it for centuries now and become the successful, stable country it deserves to be.
52
@Max I couldn't have said it better myself!
4
@Max Well, the problem with your analysis is that for Ukraine and Russia the ties traditionally have been so close that it is hard to say who is Russian and who is Ukrainian. People have been migrating back and forth between these two areas and intermarriages are extremely high. The vast use of Russian language in Ukraine, among other things, reflects this.
7
@anna
The most ridiculous recent development was the translation of Gogol's works into Ukrainian.
6
From what this story says, I take it that Giuliani was going to pay somebody off to get some dirt on Biden and his son.
The problem I have with this is that the story also says that corruption runs rampant in the Ukraine so the chances of getting anything true would be a 1,000,000 to 1, not to mention that what Giuliani was doing was treasonous to begin with but then to so is his boss.
26
Ukraine wanted to be independent from Russia to be able to mind her own bussiness.But it came out to be a new colony.This time of a group of greedy and corrupt Americans,including military folks and institutions selling weapons to the poor inhabitants of that country.
Meanwhile the people of that poor country are still suffering under hypocritical slogans of democracy and fair government.
Terrible!
12
Thanks for the history lesson, it was informative and put things in perspective. Ukraine might consider itself the "New Berlin Wall" but we just need it to be the "New Stained Dress".
6
In an outline, however cursory, of how the Ukraine has been "put upon over the centuries by more powerful neighbors claiming their land," it is hard to believe that the Nazi invasion, with the Hunger Plan and Einsatzgruppen charged by Hitler to carve out 'liebenschraum' for would-be German settlers through the mass murder and starvation of many millions, was not alluded to in this article.
17
You meant to type "Lebensraum", as in a place they could live.
Liebensraum is not a word.
7
In a newly published sworn affidavit, Shokin said he was told the reason he was forced out in March 2016: Biden wasn’t pleased with the investigations into Burisma, an energy company for which Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, served on the board.
12
@MRM
Citation please? Fact checkers have already confirmed that the investigation of Burisma started before Hunter Biden was hired as a lawyer/consultant. Also, recall, the entire Western World was calling for the resignation/firing of Shokin because he was corrupt, to the bone.
16
@MRM
All wrong. Here's what happened:
Burisma, known to be corrupt, was being investigated, with many western powers calling for the resignation of Shokin.
Ukraine promised to weed out corruption. The Bidens and the Clintons got on board, hoping to prompt positive changes.
Positive changes did not come, and the Bidens and the Clintons became political targets because of their ties to Ukraine's still-corrupt oligarch. But their faults were being naive and succumbing to flattery, nothing approaching the treachery practiced by the current resident in the White House.
2
Putin wants oil refiners on the Black Sea which will make it much easier for Russia to ship from
7
The BBC is currently reporting an interview with Pavlo Klimkin - Ukraine's former Foreign Minister - in which he rejects claims made by Trump that Biden pressed for the sacking of a Ukrainian prosecutor to protect a business that employed his son.
16
This a narrow article w/o much substance ....let’s talk about the six Republicans up on insider trading scandal
7
This article clarified the larger story behind American involvement in the Ukraine, a small European country trapped in a thankless position.
We insisted on Ukraine’s de-nuclearization. How many countries will now scramble to become nuclear powers simply to avoid having their existence and independence hinge upon having a nuclear option?
It seems obvious we owe Ukraine our protection now. For Trump to make their aid package dependent upon their willingness to gather or create dirt on Trump’s Democratic opponents is not only dishonorable, it is criminal.
19
@Ginger M. Except Ukraine is not a small country, it's second biggest in Europe, losing only to Russia.
8
@Ginger M.
Ukraine is, after Russia, the largest European country. It also is more populated than The Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic combined.
10
@Ginger M.
Ukraine was never a nuclear power. It didn't have nukes of its own - the USSR stored some of its arsenal there, not unlike the US keeps nukes in Europe (still). When the Soviet Unions collapsed, the entire world got together to prevent nuclear weapons getting into the hands of some bad actors.
12
Interesting to see the portrayal of Ukraine as the “new Berlin Wall,” as a continuity of Ukraine’s position as a borderlands during the Soviet period. Unfortunate that a country attempting to assert its sovereignty for over two decades continues to be cast as the middleman between the West and Russia in Western media. More unfortunate, though, is the political situation Ukraine continues to find itself in, and what that means for its people.
9
All that’s missing in this plot is King Henry II and the Aquitaine.
6
It has been a mistake of world-historical proportions from Day One to extend NATO to the literal border of Ukraine and Russia.
12
@Frank The new democracies of Eastern Europe exercised their right to request to join NATO and they made the right choice.
Ukraine is "dysfunctional" only to the extent that it has chosen a very challenging path away from 300-plus years of domination by Muscovy/Russia/USSR/Russia and toward western ideals and opportunities.
Ukraine did operate somewhat more efficiently as a semi-feudal client state of its similarly organized neighbor to the north (as Serhii Plokhy writes). That shockingly changed in 2014 when a three-month popular uprising known as the Revolution of Dignity saw the Russian-controlled president - a well known figure in organized crime from the part of the country now occupied by Russian-armed forces - flee the country.
The goal for Ukrainian people has been to be like the United States. How ashamed I am that a country struggling to become more like my country has been abused in the name of my country by a president no different from those of Ukraine's past. So who is dysfunctional now?
126
@Randolph
"saw the Russian-controlled president"...elected fair and square by the very Ukrainians you feel so passionate about.
1
@Randolph I agree with this Post completely. Trump, I believe may have endorsed the corruption Ukraine has been suspected of. This is very sad.
14
@Randolph
Be like the United States?
What did we do when the Confederacy declared independence?
2
There is this difference though.
Throughout the Cold War, it was crystal clear where American policy stood, and therefore American presidents stood, in relation to the Wall. They were on the West side. Period.
Certainly American POLICY has been and is to draw Ukraine west, into the greater orbit of Europe.
But it seems obvious from his statements and his actions that Trump wants Ukraine to move EAST, back into the orbit of Putin, and Russia.
In that sense, comparing Ukraine to the moral clarity of the Berlin Wall is a half-truth.
But then again, most things are half-truths in Trumpworld, if they have any truth value at all.
134
@Paul McGlasson you said it was crystal clear during the cold war. That seems to be rewriting history quite a bit. A number of politicians on the left at the time had much fuzzier positions.
This time around it's the left that has a clear position and the right that is muddying the waters.
8
@Paul McGlasson These are excellent points. It remains to be revealed exactly why Trump "wants Ukraine to move EAST" but as we all suspect personal and family financial interests (or dependency) on the Russian mob/Putin play a role.
6
@Paul McGlasson-Indeed! The case could be made that Trump's stopping the Congress-approved $400 million in military aid to Ukraine--gave/gives Putin leverage in his war on Ukraine's Eastern border putting Ukraine's security and American/NATO interests in the region in jeopardy. As we now know that transcriptions of Trump's conversations with Putin (and Saudi Arabia's hitman MBS) have been "lock boxed" -- chances are Putin and Trump have talked about this. Trump did tell Ukraine's new leader to work out a peace with Putin.
7
A decade ago I lived and worked in Ukraine for a couple of years and while there made a dear Ukrainian friend -- an accomplished translator. My friend's English was so perfect that I had to periodically remind myself that I was not dealing with an American but with a Ukrainian and needed to filter what I said to him accordingly. One day I forgot to do this. We were discussing the very same Mazepa mentioned in this article. I remarked that I couldn't understand why the Ukrainians consider him a hero since, in my eyes, his main claim to fame was repeatedly changing sides, betraying allies until his multiple betrays finally did him in. My dear friend's eyes flashed and he sharply rebuked me. Just as the writer of this piece says, my friend reminded me that Ukraine has always been vulnerable, caught between powerful foreign forces, and survives, like Mazepa, only by playing them off against each other. This is why if you visit Kiev, Ukraine's beautiful capital, you can travel along one its main boulevards -- named for Mazepa.
127
@uw Where are you getting "young female friend" from? My friend is male and he's not young. This is completely your projection.
2
Sad to read about opportunistic "carpet-bagging" politicians from either side angling to gain what advantage they can from Ukraine and its resources, while the average citizen struggles with a currency that can't hold its value, lack of educational opportunity that isn't hopelessly corrupt, and rampant unemployment (I don't know what the official figures are, but unemployment is a massive problem throughout smaller cities and especially the countless villages). Not to mention that elderly that are expected to live off pensions that often amount to less than $100 a month.
39
@Pete
Amazing. People living on meagre government pensions of $100 a month while international (including North American carpetbaggers) collect fees of thousands and millions of dollars for questionable "consultantships." But they may all be "legal" fees and services. The tentacles of corruption are global.
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There is a certain irony here. The Berlin Wall, and all it represented, helped cement the notion that the US and the freedom it championed, could lead the world. Likewise, American support for the Solidarity movement in Poland was pivotal in undoing the 'Evil Empire' and causing the downfall of the USSR.
Now, Trump et al through their interference in Ukraine are showing the world a different sort of evil. Whether it leads to the downfall of the American empire itself or simply the idealism underlying it, or more miraculously winds up causing the rebirth of American democracy remains to be seen.
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@Karl Gauss
Hate to pop your cherry, but your knowledge and understanding history is like Swiss cheese, I'm afraid. The Berlin Wall didn't come out of nowhere; the US did absolutely nothing to stop its construction; in fact there was a tacit acceptance by the Americans that something will have to be done to stem the outflow of East Germans through the leak in Berlin. JFK himself said so. And the Wall didn't go up miraculously overnight; it took months to build, brick by brick, block by block, without as much, as a peep (other, than propaganda) by the US. Have you ever asked yourself, how the zig-zag line across the city could have been drawn up without skirting the occupation zones' borders?
As for Solidarity - that was a trade union movement, attempting to gain the right to strike (an anathema in Communist societies). It only became a political force, when foreigners saw its potential in 'loosening up' the political situation in Poland. It had nothing to do with 'American support' because that would have attracted a full-scale Soviet invasion, which was thwarted by the then leader Jaruzelski declaring martial law, that lasted almost 10 years.
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@waldo Hate to pop your cherry, but the threat of nuclear annihilation was real back in the early 60s. You actually think the Western powers could have prevented the Soviets from putting up a physical barrier around their zone of occupation? This would have led to war. Should the West have offered flowers and 'asked' the Soviets to behave and all would be good within the city that was a flashpoint of the Cold War? I lived 8 years in West Berlin. I traveled quite a few times to East Berlin and I can tell you that the Soviets weren't playing games. Neither were the indoctrinated East Germans.
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@waldo
Actually, the Berlin Wall, per se, did get erected almost overnight, and was, indeed, a bit of a surprise to US statesmen, and the State Department. Actually, the US intelligence services did indeed get lots of flack for not knowing such a wall construction was imminent.
You seem to want to take Mr. Gauss to task for his understanding of the Solidarity movement, and you say that the USA didn't "support" Solidarity. Yes it did. From Reagan on down, many sectors in USA society, including trade unions, viewed Solidarity as a great thing, and just as Mr. Gauss said, was instrumental in the USSR's implosion.
The first sentence in your comment was a clear untruth, as you did, indeed, enjoy throwing shade on Mr. Gauss's comment. But you didn't at all address the content of his comment. His comment, expressed a profound revulsion for Donald Trump, and a hope for idealism. I'm sure it is those sentiments that you really objected to, but couldn't bring yourself to say so outright, so you danced around some historical ambiguities in his two-paragraph comment.
I think what Mr. Gauss expressed is spot on, and none of your fact-juggling would put off a real observer of modern USA or Ukraine.
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I am convinced that if someone or some company is doing any business in a thoroughly corrupt country they are automatically corrupt themselves.
No further proof needed, it is self evident.
We should openly acknowledge that fact and just levy some hefty extra corruption tax.
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That violates the constitutional guarantee of due process. Guilt simply by association doesn’t work in the US.
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@Norbert
What you said is flat-out wrong. Many times, nations and corporations must do business with "the lessor of two evils," and modern nation-states are not at all allowed the luxury of only sitting at table with leaders with high morals. Attempting to prevent Ukraine from slipping relentlessly into the Soviet sphere is a admirable goal, and the poor decisions made by American leaders along the way do not at all indicate personal corruption.
"Mr. Giuliani has repeatedly looked to the same city and a new set of Ukrainian leaders for dirt on Mr. Trump’s political foes ahead of the 2020 poll."
Surely what is meant is the 2020 election.
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@Stephen Benson one uses a poll to decide the winner of an election.
I wonder what the Ukrainians think of Zelensky's interaction with Trump ... he seemed to me to be a bit puppy-like ...
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@Steve of Albany
As with Americans, there is an array of opinions, but my Ukrainian family (from Odesa - a mostly Russian-speaking part of the country) thinks a world of him, and so do about 70% of the population.
He is the first president ever to elevate interests of the nation above his own. That's rare, even in the West. He is honorable, smart, but also very cunning and nimble. He promised in his inauguration speech that he will do whatever it takes to defend Ukraine, "will stand on my knees" in front of anyone if it helps to save Ukrainian lives, he said. This is what he did with Trump. Ukraine needs the darn javelins, we have casualties every single day.
At the same time, please note that Trump's team has been putting pressure to open an investigation in Bidens since at least April, but UKRAINE DID NOT COOPERATE. They aspire to be a nation of laws. This is why Trump resorted to blackmail, holding up military aid and demanding favors prior to weapons sale, "though".
When it's over, America should send a thank you note to Zelensky and the Ukrainian people.
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@Steve of Albany
Curious myself. Definitely not very "strong-man". I cringed. Hard.
I pray that Ukraine will become most famous going forward as the graveyard for the GOP and Donald Trump’s web of presidential corruption.
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How “perfectly” geocentric of you.
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" When they met in New York . . . the only specific person from Ukraine Trump wanted to tell Mr. Zelensky about was a former Miss Universe contestant."
Just a deep thinker.
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I laugh. I cry.
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@Paul McGlasson
Welcome to my world Mr. McGlasson.
Oddly, I know people who truly believe Trump is such a deep thinker.
WOW. I fail to get my head around that "logic".
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Sickening, really sickening to read about the Manaforts et al...cashing in mega $s, while a very, very large segment of the Ukrainian population is stunningly poor by European standards. This, coupled with significant emigration and brain drain (for instance, Poland's larger cities have close to 10-15% Ukrainian's working in both blue and white collar professions), does not bode well for the future of the country.
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To be honest, Trump, in this iteration, continues his role as meddling buffoon and corrupt President.
Hunter Biden and the Heinz kid play their roles as the regrettable products of an ideological system that rewards political family dynasties, and rewards them well. He got his $50k a month job because his dad was VP and had control over a large grant to the Ukraine.
In other words, business as usual, one set of scoundrels denounces another.
I wouldn't shake hands with Trump or Biden.
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@Ernest Montague. Okay, don't shake hands with Hunter Biden.
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@Ernest Montague. That’s a monumental false equivalency.
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Imagine the position Ukraine is in: pressed by Russia, which violated its sovereignty and faced only mild international repercussions, it saw its main ally changing its position and start cozying up to Putin. This new US friendliness toward Russia is clearly bad news for Ukraine.
That being said, Trump's request for Ukraine's "help" carries much more weight than if the same request was made to other allies; in this case, it's more than about securing favors, it's about staving off an existential threat. People should look beyond the military aid that was suspended. This should not be framed as simply "asking for the help of a foreign power", because it's not any foreign power. In a sense, even if in a smaller scale, it's comparable to Israel: of course any "favour" asked by the US to that country would be considered far more imperative to deliver given the special relationship between the two.
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Just returned from a few weeks' vacation in Ukraine, I can say that it's a power vacuum all right. Once we made this newly-freed nation give up its nuclear weapons as the price for receiving American and other Western financial aid, we started the clock ticking on its next takeover by Russia. After the events of the past few days that takeover looks to be imminent in the chaos sown by Trump's impeachment.
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@Tournachonadar indeed after this fiasco no matter what happens to trump I would wager that more parts of Ukraine are gobbled up. After all their new president is an actor who played a president on TV. If trump gets impeached, which he probably will, you can bet that for the next generation every republican will not want to provide them with military help. Russia may as well start the tanks rolling over the boarder.
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