Trump-Ukraine Fact Sheet
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Charges of Ukrainian Meddling? a Russian
Charges of Ukrainian Meddling? A Russian Operation,The Trump U.S. Intelligence Says Trump Impeached Senatorsʼ Reactions How Everyone Voted Whatʼs Next? Impeachment Moscow has run a yearslong operation to blame Ukraine for its own 2016 election interference. Republicans have used similar talking points to defend President Trump in impeachment proceedings. By Julian E. Barnes and Matthew Rosenberg Published Nov. 22, 2019 Updated Nov. 26, 2019 WASHINGTON — Republicans have sought for weeks amid the impeachment inquiry to shift attention to President Trump’s demands that Ukraine investigate any 2016 election meddling, defending it as a legitimate concern while Democrats accuse Mr. Trump of pursuing fringe theories for his benefit. The Republican defense of Mr. Trump became central to the impeachment proceedings when Fiona Hill, a respected Russia scholar and former senior White House official, added a harsh critique during testimony on Thursday. She told some of Mr. Trump’s fiercest defenders in Congress that they were repeating “a fictional narrative.” She said that it likely came from a disinformation campaign by Russian security services, which also propagated it. In a briefing that closely aligned with Dr. Hill’s testimony, American intelligence officials informed senators and their aides in recent weeks that Russia had engaged in a yearslong campaign to essentially frame Ukraine as responsible for Moscow’s own hacking of the 2016 election, according to three American officials. The briefing came as Republicans stepped up their defenses of Mr. Trump in the Ukraine affair. The revelations demonstrate Russia’s persistence in trying to sow discord among its adversaries — and show that the Kremlin apparently succeeded, as unfounded claims about Ukrainian interference seeped into Republican talking points. -
The Case Study of Crossfire Hurricane
TIMELINE: Congressional Oversight in the Face of Executive Branch and Media Suppression: The Case Study of Crossfire Hurricane 2009 FBI opens a counterintelligence investigation of the individual who would become Christopher Steele’s primary sub-source because of his ties to Russian intelligence officers.1 June 2009: FBI New York Field Office (NYFO) interviews Carter Page, who “immediately advised [them] that due to his work and overseas experiences, he has been questioned by and provides information to representatives of [another U.S. government agency] on an ongoing basis.”2 2011 February 2011: CBS News investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson begins reporting on “Operation Fast and Furious.” Later in the year, Attkisson notices “anomalies” with several of her work and personal electronic devices that persist into 2012.3 2012 September 11, 2012: Attack on U.S. installations in Benghazi, Libya.4 2013 March 2013: The existence of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server becomes publicly known.5 May 2013: o News reports reveal Obama’s Justice Department investigating leaks of classified information and targeting reporters, including secretly seizing “two months of phone records for reporters and editors of The Associated Press,”6 labeling Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “co-conspirator,” and obtaining a search warrant for Rosen’s personal emails.7 May 10, 2013: Reports reveal that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeted and unfairly scrutinized conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status.8 -
The Ukrainian Weekly, 2020
INSIDE: l State in a Smartphone app is launched – page 3 l ‘Peripheral Visions’ exhibit by the Yurchuks – page 11 l Community: Alberta, New York, New Jersey – pages 16-17 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association, Inc., celebrating W its 125th anniversaryEEKLY Vol. LXXXVIII No. 7 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 $2.00 NEWS ANALYSIS Yermak replaces Bohdan Zelenskyy, with Yermak in new role, as the head of Presidential Office emphasizes continuity in foreign policy by Bohdan Nahaylo understood that it is necessary to change the Minsk accords of 2014-2015 because KYIV – When President Volodymyr they are not working, and he sensed that Zelenskyy fired the controversial head of even “Russia is preparing to think this his Presidential Office, Andriy Bohdan, and over.” This recognition of “Minsk flexibility” replaced him with Andriy Yermak, a non- was a step forward. In his view, the staff close adviser who has become increas- achieve ment of peace remains the goal, for ingly influential in recent months, the move in the end it will be not about winners and suggested a change in style and approach in losers but “a victory for everyone.” the domestic sphere. But the appointment Turning from the Donbas to Crimea, also reaffirmed Mr. Yermak’s position as the President Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukrainian president’s chief negotiator with this issue was “even more complicated.” He the Kremlin and his stewardship over added cryptically: “But we are also working Ukraine’s foreign policy in general. on it. I cannot say more so far.” On the same day as the personnel The following day, at his first press con- change in Kyiv, Moscow confirmed that ference as head of the Presidential Office, or Dmitry Kozak had replaced Vladyslav chief of staff, Mr. -
Volodymyr Zelensky: What Has Been Done in the Past Year? What’S Next?...1
Nr 14 ROCZNIK INTEGRACJI EUROPEJSKIEJ 2020 ŁUKASZ DONAJ DOI : 10.14746/rie.2020.14.6 Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań ORCID: 0000-0002-7720-1260 Volodymyr Zelensky: What has Been Done in the Past Year? What’s Next?...1 Introduction Tadeusz Iwański, an analyst from the Center for Eastern Studies, has noted that the political situation in Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity and the ensuing Russian aggression created a peculiar social context, in which the perception of traditional politicians has dramatically changed for the worse. After the revolution, the society has been eagerly expecting a thorough recovery of the state, combined with a new quality of governance and public empowerment. However, the 2014 presidential and parliamentary elections changed little in terms of the political elite, as the most im- portant state functions remained in the hands of politicians who first emerged in the 1990s, when the oligarchic system in Ukraine was being formed. The reforms intro- duced in the first two to three years after the revolution, mainly under pressure from Western creditors and the civil society, did not meet the society’s needs. Not only did they fail to improve the quality of life, but eventually led to the emigration of some 2 million Ukrainians, which placed an additional burden on the shoulders of the old and new elites. Initiated but never completed, the painful reforms have increased po- litical volatility and sapped public trust in the political class even further. A survey by Kyiv’s Razumkov Center showed that just before the presidential elections only 23 percent of respondents trusted the president. -
Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law (114:3 Am J Int'l L)
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Penn Law: Legal Scholarship Repository Faculty Scholarship at Penn Law 7-2020 Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law (114:3 Am J Int'l L) Jean Galbraith University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship Part of the International Law Commons, Military, War, and Peace Commons, National Security Law Commons, and the President/Executive Department Commons Repository Citation Galbraith, Jean, "Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law (114:3 Am J Int'l L)" (2020). Faculty Scholarship at Penn Law. 2190. https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/2190 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Penn Law: Legal Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship at Penn Law by an authorized administrator of Penn Law: Legal Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Copyright © 2020 by The American Society of International Law CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE OF THE UNITED STATES RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL LAW EDITED BY JEAN GALBRAITH* In this section: • President Trump Impeached and Acquitted of Charges Relating to His Conduct of Foreign Affairs • Trump Administration Further Restricts Asylum Seekers at the Southern Border Through the Migrant Protection Protocols, Asylum Cooperative Agreements, and COVID-19 Procedures • U.S. Department of Justice Indicts Venezuelan Leader Nicolás Maduro on Narcotrafficking Charges • U.S. Refusal to Appoint Members Renders WTO Appellate Body Unable to Hear New Appeals • Trump Administration Authorizes U.S. Military Use of Non-persistent Landmines • United States Signs Agreement with the Taliban, but Prospects for Its Full Implementation Remain Uncertain * Emily Friedman, David Ta-wei Huang, Beatrix Lu, Erica Rodarte, Rebecca Wallace, and Howard Weiss contributed to the preparation of this section. -
June 2019 Newsnet
NewsNet News of the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies June 2019 v. 59, n. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Who’s Laughing Now?: What Volodymyr Zelensky’s 2 Presidential Win May Mean for Ukraine Studies War on the Academy: The Hungarian Government’s 8 Crackdown on Research Freedom 14 2019 Research Grant Recipients Cohen-Tucker Dissertation 16 Research Fellowship Recipients 21st-Century Approaches to 18 Copyright Law 22 Affiliate Group News 24 Publications 28 Personages 29 In Memoriam 30 Institutional Member News Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) 203C Bellefield Hall, 315 S. Bellefield Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15260-6424 tel.: 412-648-9911 • fax: 412-648-9815 www.aseees.org ASEEES Staff Executive Director: Lynda Park 412-648-9788, [email protected] NewsNet Editor & Program Coordinator: Trevor Erlacher 412-648-7403, [email protected] Communications Coordinator: Mary Arnstein 412-648-9809, [email protected] Membership Coordinator: Sean Caulfield 412-648-9911, [email protected] Convention Manager: Margaret Manges 412-648-4049, [email protected] Financial Support: Roxana Palomino 412-648-4049, [email protected] Who’s Laughing Now?: WHAT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY’S PRESIDENTIAL WIN MAY MEAN FOR UKRAINE STUDIES William Jay Risch GEORGIA COLLEGE It was not supposed to happen this way in Ukraine. Comedian and entertainer Volodymyr Zelensky, a man with no political experience whatsoever, defeated incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, a prominent figure in Ukrainian politics for the past two decades. He won despite Ukraine being five years in a hybrid war with Russia that has cost at least 13,000 lives by late February 2019 and has led to as many as 1.8 million people still being registered as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as of July 2018.1 It was not a defeat. -
Faltering Fightback: Zelensky's Piecemeal Campaign Against Ukraine's Oligarchs – European Council on Foreign Relations
POLICY BRIEF FALTERING FIGHTBACK: ZELENSKY’S PIECEMEAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST UKRAINE’S OLIGARCHS Andrew Wilson July 2021 SUMMARY Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has declared a “fightback” against oligarchs. Zelensky is motivated by worries about falling poll ratings, pressure from Russia, and a strong desire for good relations with the Biden administration. The fightback campaign has resulted in action against some oligarchs but, overall, it is incomplete. The government still needs to address reform issues in other areas, especially the judiciary, and it has an on-off relationship with the IMF because of the latter’s insistence on conditionality. The campaign has encouraged Zelensky’s tendency towards governance through informal means. This has allowed him to act speedily – but it risks letting oligarchic influence return and enabling easy reversal of reforms in the future. Introduction On 12 March this year, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, released a short appeal on YouTube called “Ukraine fights back”. He declared that he was preparing to take on those who have been undermining the country – those who have exploited Ukraine’s weaknesses in particular, including its frail rule of law. He attacked “the oligarchic class” – and named names: “[Viktor] Medvedchuk, [Ihor] Kolomoisky, [Petro] Poroshenko, [Rinat] Akhmetov, [Viktor] Pinchuk, [Dmitry] Firtash”. He proceeded to address the oligarchs directly, asking, “Are you ready to work legally and transparently?” The president went on, “Or do you want to continue to create monopolies, control the media, influence deputies and other civil servants? The first is welcome. The second ends.” Ukrainians have heard this kind of talk before. Zelensky’s predecessor, Poroshenko, also made ‘de- oligarchisation’ a policy pledge. -
Congress of the United States House of Representatives Washington DC 20515
Congress of the United States House of Representatives Washington DC 20515 MEMORANDUM November 12, 2019 To : RepublicanMembersof the PermanentSelect Committeeon Intelligence, Committee on Oversightand Reform , and Committeeon Foreign Affairs From : RepublicanStaffof the PermanentSelect Committeeon Intelligence, Committee on Oversightand Reform , and Committeeon Foreign Affairs Subject: Key points of evidence from the Democrats' closed door “ impeachment inquiry On September 24, 2019, Speaker Pelosiunilaterally announced that the House of Representativeswould initiate an inquiry into impeaching PresidentDonald J. Trump concerning the President s telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25. Democrats allege thatPresident Trump jeopardized U . S . nationalsecurity by pressuring Ukraineto initiatepolitically-motivated investigationsthat could interfere in U . S . domestic politics. The evidence, however, does not support this allegation. In the49 days since Speaker Pelosi s announcement, Rep. Adam Schiff, Chairman of the PermanentSelect Committeeon Intelligence, hasbeen leading this inquiry from his Capitol basementbunker. The fact- finding is all unclassified, so the closed-door process is purely for information control. This arrangementhas allowed Chairman Schiff who has alreadypublicly fabricated evidence and misled Americansabouthisinteractionswith the anonymous whistleblower selectively leak cherry -picked informationto help paintmisleadingpublic narrativeswhile , at the sametime, placinga gag order -
OSW Commentary
Centre for Eastern Studies NUMBER 306 | 24.07.2019 www.osw.waw.pl To serve the people – total power in Zelensky’s hands Tadeusz Iwański The key slogans of the campaign of Volodymyr Zelensky and his party Servant of the People ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections were: to bring fresh blood into the po- litical class and to introduce honest professionals to politics who have not been discredited. The new president had no political experience whatsoever and, as a result of the parliamenta- ry election, over three quarters of the seats in the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) will be taken by individuals who have never served as members of parliament. The new parlia- ment will have the lowest average age of its deputies since 1991 and the largest proportion of women (around 20%). The largest number of new and young politicians has been introduced to the Verkhovna Rada by the Servant of the People party and the Voice party. The sweeping victory attained by Zelensky’s party will allow it to form a government by itself. The president has announced that a new prime minister will be an economist “without polit- ical experience”, and it can be assumed that this principle will also apply during the selection of most of the new ministers. Thus Ukraine, being at war with Russia and struggling with low economic growth, will be governed by individuals who are new to politics. This situation, be- ing an effect of the high hopes and expectations of the Ukrainian public for a fundamental change of the system, is giving rise to the significant potential for positive changes but also might put the political stability and further development of the Ukrainian state at risk. -
Congressional Record—Senate S498
S498 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 23, 2020 If there were any doubt about how don’t want to lose a single more vote under his control. There may be an ef- President Putin feels about the Presi- than necessary. But those polls do fort to say: OK, the human hand gre- dent’s conduct, you need only look to show the powerful motive that Donald nade, Rudy Giuliani, it is all his fault. Putin’s own words. His statement on Trump had—a motive that he didn’t He has the President in his grip. November 20 tells it all. He said: have the year before or the year before And even though the U.S. intel- Thank God nobody is accusing us anymore that; a motive that he didn’t have ligence agencies and the bipartisan of interfering in U.S. elections. Now they’re when he allowed the aid to go to Senate Intelligence Committee and ev- accusing Ukraine. Ukraine without complaint or issue in eryone else told the President time That is a short quotation from Putin, 2017 or 2018. It was only when he had a after time that this is nonsense, that but it speaks volumes. Even though growing concern with Joe Biden’s can- the Russians interfered, not the President Trump knew there was no didacy that he took a sudden interest Ukrainians, he just couldn’t shake factual basis for the theory that it was in Ukraine and Ukraine funding and himself of what he was hearing from Ukraine that interfered in the 2016 the withholding of that aid. -
The Future of Ukrainian Oligarchsdownload
Ukrainian Institute for the Future is an independent analytical center that: • forecasts changes and models possible scenarios for events in Ukraine; • makes a competent assessment of the Ukrainian events; • makes specific recommendations for actions; • offers effective solutions; • offers a platform for discussions on current topics. It is a project of representatives of Ukrainian business, politics and the public sector. Founded in summer 2016. AUTHORS Victor Andrusiv Executive Director of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, PhD in Political Science, analyst and opinion journalist, author of the book “Change the future” Oleg Ustenko Executive Director of the Bleyzer Foundation, President of Harvard Club of Ukraine alumni association Yurii Romanenko Co-founder of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, head of the International and Domestic Policy programme, editor-in-chief of the portal Hvylya Ihar Tyshkevich Expert of International and Domestic Politics programme of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF) © Art-direction D!VANDESIGN © Idea and design INCOGNITA INTRODUCTION. THE BRITISH DISEASE IN UKRAINE Content 05 THEORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE UKRAINIAN OLIGARCHY 06 INFLUENCE OVER ENERGY INDUSTRY 14 INFLUENCE OVER METALLURGY 26 INFLUENCE OVER TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE 38 INFLUENCE OVER MEDIA 50 INFLUENCE OVER POLITICS 62 THREE SCENARIOS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE OLIGARCHS 72 Victor Andrusiv Executive Director of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, PhD in Political Science, analyst and opinion journalist, author of the book “Change the future” Introduction: the British disease in Ukraine After the fall of the Soviet Union, the starting conditions for economic development in Ukraine were advanta- geous. However, after 27 years of independence, we continue to be the most backward country of the post-Sovi- et bloc. -
Snapshot of Ukraine's Energy
SNAPSHOT OF UKRAINE’S ENERGY SECTOR: ENERGY UKRAINE’S OF SNAPSHOT SNAPSHOT OF UKRAINE’S ENERGY SECTOR INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNANCE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK This report provides an overview of Ukraine’s energy sector. It presents the structure of the sector, Snapshot of Ukraine’s identifying the main state and corporate actors, and clarifying roles and responsibilities, as well as reporting mechanisms. It also elucidates the relationships among actors, including government bodies, regulators, state-owned enterprises and other stakeholders. It looks at the mechanisms in Energy Sector: place for licencing and for monitoring the energy strategy. Institutions, Governance The report describes how the reforms now underway are changing the architecture of the electricity sector, in particular, and presents the architecture in place since the launch of the and Policy Framework wholesale electricity market and the corporatisation of Ukrenergo in July 2019. It encompasses both quantitative and qualitative elements, looking at Ukraine’s energy mix, sector governance, and policy and regulatory frameworks. It also provides a case study of Ukraine’s electricity market. INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNANCE AND POLICY AND GOVERNANCE INSTITUTIONS, The report establishes the basis for upcoming OECD analytical work in the context of the project Supporting Energy Sector Reform in Ukraine, funded by the Government of Norway. oe.cd/energy-sector-reform-ukraine FRAMEWORK TLE Snapshot of Ukraine’s Energy Sector Institutions, Governance and Policy Framework 2 Foreword Since 1991, the OECD and Ukraine have been working hand in hand to improve governance and economic development. A Memorandum of Understanding for Strengthening Co-operation (MoU) was signed between the OECD and the Government of Ukraine in 2014.