Pompeo tells Ukraine leader embroiled in Trump impeachment U.S. support “will not waiver” – By CBS/AFP Staff (CBS News) / Jan 31 2020
Kiev, Ukraine — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Ukraine’s leader Friday on his first trip to the country at the heart of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial as America’s top diplomat. Pompeo met President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is at the center of Mr. Trump’s historic impeachment trial for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The Democratic prosecution team in the Senate trial has alleged that Mr. Trump flagrantly tried to force Kiev to help him tarnish his possible election challenger, former vice president Joe Biden. Key to the impeachment scandal is a July 25 telephone call in which Mr. Trump pushed Zelensky to announce an investigation of Biden.
President Trump is accused of withholding nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine in the war in the east of the country, and refusing Zelensky a White House meeting unless he opened the probe.
American financial and military aid is crucial for Kiev, and that is a reason why Ukraine was struggling not to be involved in the U.S. campaign; trying to maintain support from both American major parties.
Speaking to reporters alongside Zelensky at a news conference after their meeting, Pompeo said the “United States understands that Ukraine is an important country.” He stressed America’s continuing support for Kiev — including the vital financial aid that President Trump briefly withheld — and reiterated that Washington would not back down from demands that Russia revoke its “attempts to annex” the Crimean Peninsula.
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