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Amaryllis

(9,833 posts)
Wed Jan 29, 2020, 05:19 PM Jan 2020

"It was a panic" inside Zelensky administration after initial news broke of aid being withheld

I posted this yesterday but am posting it again today under a different subject heading because I think it is really important. This is a must read. Impeccable timing RE impeachment. I hope Rachel or someone picks it up. Much more at link. Directly contradicts Trump's "no pressure" narrative and shows just how much pressure Ukraine was under.

And Ukraine is losing good people over this too; not just us.

Oleksandr Danylyuk (former chairman of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council) says the requests to investigate the Bidens “rattled” Zelensky’s team and the one person in the administration he trusted was Bolton.

Snip

"But in the weeks and months that followed, efforts to construct a partnership between the Zelensky and Trump administrations, one focused on fighting corruption, crumbled. It crumbled in part because the Zelensky team was pulled into an American domestic political fight spurred by Trump’s push to have Ukraine investigate his rival Joe Biden, Biden’s son Hunter, and supposed interference in the 2016 election. That’s according to Oleksandr Danylyuk, the former chairman of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, who said the requests “rattled” Zelensky’s team.

Danylyuk spoke to The Daily Beast last week in his first on-the-record conversation since impeachment proceedings began in Washington, saying he resigned from his post in Kyiv in September in part “because of the situation with the U.S.” When Danylyuk answered my FaceTime call, he appeared to be in his office in Kyiv, with pictures of the city in the background. The former Ukrainian official was supposed to have traveled to the U.S. to meet me but caught a virus at the World Economic Forum in Davos and flew home to recover. (We plan on meeting in person for our second interview.)

Over the course of two hours, Danylyuk laid out his reasons for joining the Zelensky team and why he decided to leave the administration. The former official said his hope was that he would get to “change lives” as a part of the Zelensky government, helping develop Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions and promoting the country as an international powerhouse worthy of respect. Danylyuk, a self-described technocrat, said the U.S.-Ukraine shakeup “set an uncomfortable background” but that the two countries can still forge ahead with a new, better roadmap.

Snip

Danylyuk said he first found out that the U.S. was withholding aid to Ukraine by reading Politico’s article published Aug. 28.
U.S. officials and Ukrainian diplomats, including the country’s former Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal, have said publicly that Kyiv was aware there were problems with the U.S. aid as early as July.

“I was really surprised and shocked. Because just a couple of days prior to that… I actually had a meeting with John Bolton. Actually, I had several meetings with him. And we had extensive discussions. The last thing I had expected to read was an article about military aid being frozen,” Danylyuk said. “After that... I was trying to get the truth. Was it true or not true?”
Danylyuk said that “it was a panic” inside the Zelensky administration after the initial news broke, saying Zelensky was convinced there had been some sort of mistake. Danylyuk put in calls to the National Security Council and asked other officials in Washington what to make of the news.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/oleksandr-danylyuk-former-top-ukraine-official-says-he-trusted-john-bolton-more-than-anyone?via=newsletter&source=DDMorning

Let's watch for that upcoming in-person second interview with Daily Beast and Danylyuk.

13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
2. Trump claims that it was him alone that released the anti-tank missiles to Ukraine.
Wed Jan 29, 2020, 05:26 PM
Jan 2020

My guess is when the truth is known, it likely was President Obama who actually released them, but the Pentagon had to take some time to insure that they "lost" some critical functionality in case they fell into the hands of Russia.

dewsgirl

(14,964 posts)
3. Kick and Im bookmarking to read, when I get the chance later.
Wed Jan 29, 2020, 05:29 PM
Jan 2020

I always feel so awful when Zelensky's name is brought up, he seems like a really good guy, just trying to straighten out the mess made by the previous administration, much like our our candidate will be.😔

Fiendish Thingy

(18,801 posts)
6. I don't care what Danylyuk says, Ukraine knew in July that aid was withheld
Wed Jan 29, 2020, 06:17 PM
Jan 2020

The Aug 28 date plays into Trump’s narrative, even with statements about panic.

paulkienitz

(1,341 posts)
7. We have to admire Zelensky's people for not just caving and doing exactly as Trump wanted them to.
Wed Jan 29, 2020, 06:53 PM
Jan 2020

That took some courage and integrity.

warmfeet

(3,321 posts)
10. Yeah. Of course that makes it all A-Okay. Lying sacks of shit.
Wed Jan 29, 2020, 07:48 PM
Jan 2020

They all lie, obfuscate, etc., etc., ad nauseam.

The repugs need a serious beatdown. 2020 November 3rd, a great opportunity. Continuous beatdown, forevermore.

in2herbs

(3,227 posts)
9. If the Rs vote on the impeachment on Fri the way it is expected, wouldn't a perfect
Wed Jan 29, 2020, 07:28 PM
Jan 2020

statement at the SOTU be that no D shows up. It would be a room full of Rs.

NOT MY PRESIDENT.

crickets

(26,153 posts)
12. "Ukraine is losing good people over this too; not just us."
Wed Jan 29, 2020, 10:03 PM
Jan 2020

True. Was struck by this yesterday and I'm glad you reposted it. Excellent article.

PandoraAwakened

(905 posts)
13. tRump lawyer just used this very interview
Thu Jan 30, 2020, 02:52 PM
Jan 2020

as an argument that "Ukraine wasn't aware" of aid being held up until Politico article in August.

What this new article actually points to is a Ukrainian official who resigned because, not only was Bolton lying to him about US intent, but so was Zelensky's inner circle who, at the time, was about to go all in on doing an interview with CNN to announce a bogus investigation of the Bidens.

This guy was disgusted that his supposed anti-corruption cohorts were about to buckle to corruption. The tRump lawyer didn't go into that aspect though.

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