Thursday, November 14, 2019

Ukraine Foreign Minister Says Biden Investigations Were ‘Never’ Linked To U.S. Aid

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaiko

Daily Mail: 'I have never seen a direct link': Ukraine's foreign minister says Donald Trump's EU ambassador never spelled out a connection between military aid and a Biden probe

* Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaiko said the U.S. ambassador to the European Union never detailed a quid pro quo
* Say he was never told by Ambassador Gordon Sondland that military aide was dependent on a Ukrainian investigation into Joe Biden
* Democrats claim Trump set a quid pro quo in his conversations with his Ukrainian counterpart
* Sondland originally said in a closed-door testimony on Capitol Hill that there wasn't a quid pro quo and he never communicated that
* He later walked back, claiming his memory had been jogged
* 'I now recall... I said resumption of U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement,' he revised
* He will publicly testify before the House Intelligence Committee next week

A Ukrainian official insisted Thursday that the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union did not attempt to link a military aide freeze to Kiev investigating Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaiko told Ukrainian reporters a day after the first public impeachment hearing that Ambassador Gordon Sondland did not detail any relationship between the assistance and probe, according to Interfax, a Ukrainian news agency.

Read more ....

WNU editor: This is the second time that Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaiko has come out publicly to make the statement that there was no no link between the Biden investigations and U.S. aid. The first time being in late September .... Ukraine Foreign Minister Denies Media Reports That President Trump Pressured Ukraine President Zelenskiy (September 22, 2019). As I had mentioned in my September 22 post ....

.... I met Ukrainian Foreign Minster Vadym Prystaiko when he was the Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada twice around 2013 (one was in a social environment, and the second one was to help a Canadian friend of mine who wanted to invest in Ukraine). The Ambassador struck me as a typical diplomat but one who was sincere and honest on what could and could not be done. If he says President Trump did not pressure Ukrainian President Zelenskiy, I believe him.

This public statement from Ukraine's foreign minister also completely contradicts yesterday's testimony by US diplomats Bill Taylor and George Kent .... My Take On What I Have Heard From The Impeachment Inquiry Hearing So Far (November 13, 2019), as well as Nancy Pelosi's claims  that President Trump was attempting to bribe Ukraine with military aid .... Pelosi says Trump’s Ukraine actions amount to ‘bribery’ (AP).

In a normal world this should kill this impeachment inquiry right away. This entire impeachment inquiry is based on the claim that President Trump used military aid as a leverage on Ukraine to investigate "Crowd Strike" and corruption allegations against the Biden family. But the Ukraine Foreign Minister has just said that this was never the case. There was no linkage of U.S. military aid to any investigations.

But this is not normal times. The U.S. Democrat controlled Congress is determined to impeach President Trump. Ukraine or not.

More News On Ukraine's Foreign Minister Saying That The Biden Investigations Were ‘Never’ Linked To U.S. Aid

Ukraine FM says US envoy did not link Biden probe to aid -- AFP
U.S. envoy Sondland did not link Biden probe to aid: Ukraine minister -- Reuters
Top Ukrainian official: Sondland did not link aid to investigation of Bidens -- The Hill
Sondland made no link between US aid, Biden probe: Ukrainian minister -- NYPost
Ukraine Foreign Minister Says US Aid and Biden Investigations Were ‘Never’ Linked -- Epoch Times

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