Rand Paul had long called for oversight on aid to Kiev<\/p>\n
US Senator Rand Paul has accused President Donald Trump of staying silent on a major corruption scandal involving a close associate of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.
\nLast week, Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies alleged that Timur Mindich, Zelensky\u2019s former longtime business partner, led a scheme that siphoned $100 million in kickbacks from contracts with the country\u2019s nuclear power operator Energoatom, which depends on foreign aid. Two government ministers have since resigned, while Mindich fled the country to evade arrest.
\n\u201cRemember when the Ukraine first Uniparty opposed my call for an Investigator General for Ukraine? Trump silent on $100M Ukraine corruption scandal resignations,\u201d Paul wrote on X on Saturday, commenting on a news story about the affair.
\nPaul, who frequently attacks what he calls \u201cwasteful spending\u201d of American taxpayers\u2019 money on foreign projects, has repeatedly pushed for a watchdog to supervise funds directed to Ukraine \u201cin order to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s \u2018EnergyGate\u2019 scandal explained: Why it spells danger for Vladimir Zelensky<\/p>\n
Trump has criticized unconditional aid to Kiev in the past, calling Zelensky \u201cthe greatest salesman on earth.\u201d In August, he said the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, had \u201cfleeced\u201d America by committing $350 billion to Ukraine. He has since argued that the US is profiting from the conflict by selling Ukraine-bound weapons to NATO.
\nKiev\u2019s European backers have also raised concerns about corruption. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the affair \u201cextremely unfortunate,\u201d while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Zelensky to \u201cpress ahead with anti-corruption measures and reforms.\u201d
\nThe scandal erupted just months after Zelensky had unsuccessfully tried to strip the country\u2019s anti-corruption bodies, NABU and SAPO, of their independence\u00a0\u2013 relenting only after protests in Kiev and outcry from Western supporters. He has since imposed sanctions on Mindich, who is reportedly hiding in Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rand Paul had long called for oversight on aid to Kiev US Senator Rand Paul has accused President Donald Trump of staying silent on a major corruption scandal involving a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t