Tag Archives: Ukraine

U.S., Germany deal on Nord Stream 2 pipeline draws ire of lawmakers in both countries

By Andrea Shalal and Andreas Rinke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Germany will unveil a deal on Wednesday that maps out consequences for Russia if it uses the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to harm Ukraine or other Eastern European countries, but the deal faces opposition in both countries.

The agreement, hammered out by senior U.S. and German officials and first reported by Reuters on Monday, will resolve a long-standing dispute over the $11 billion pipeline, now 98% complete, being built under the Baltic Sea to carry gas from Russia’s Arctic region to Germany.

U.S. officials continue to oppose the pipeline, but say the accord would mitigate the possibility of Russia using energy as a weapon against Ukraine and other countries in the region.

Sources said Germany also agreed to take potential unspecified actions against Russia if it cut off energy supplies to Ukraine, in addition to seeking European Union sanctions, but details about those actions – or what specific behavior by Russia would trigger them – were not immediately available.

Germany would also contribute to a new $1 billion fund aimed at improving Ukraine’s energy independence, including through investments in green hydrogen, according to the sources.

Reports about the agreement drew immediate jeers from lawmakers in both Germany and the United States.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who has been holding up President Joe Biden’s ambassadorial nominations over his concerns about Nord Stream 2, said the reported agreement would be “a generational geopolitical win for Putin and a catastrophe for the United States and our allies.”

Cruz and other lawmakers are furious at Biden for waiving congressionally mandated sanctions against the pipeline.

The agreement will avert, for now, the resumption of sanctions against Nord Stream 2 AG and its chief executive. Biden waived those sanctions in May to allow time for both sides to negotiate a way forward.

Some U.S. lawmakers have already introduced an amendment that would prevent the Biden administration from continuing to waive the sanctions, although the prospects for passage remain uncertain.

U.S. officials have sought to reassure lawmakers that the Biden administration will reserve the right to use sanctions on a case-by-case basis, in line with U.S. law.

In Germany, top members of the environmentalist Greens party, called the reported agreement “a bitter setback for climate protection” that would benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin and weaken Ukraine.

“At a time when Putin is putting massive rhetorical and military pressure on Ukraine and once again questioning the country’s sovereignty, Washington and Berlin are sending the wrong signals to Moscow,” said Oliver Krischer, vice-chairman of the party’s parliamentary group, and Manuel Sarrazin, spokesman for Eastern European policy.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Andreas Rinke and Simon Lewis; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Merkel, Biden face tough talks on Russian gas pipeline, China

By Andreas Rinke and Joseph Nasr

BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joe Biden hold talks at the White House on Thursday that experts say are unlikely to yield major breakthroughs on divisive issues like a Russian gas pipeline to Germany and a U.S. push to counterbalance China.

Both sides have said they want to reset ties strained during the presidency of Donald Trump. Yet their positions on the most divisive issues remain far apart.

Merkel has rejected opposition from the United States and eastern European neighbors to the almost completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline which they fear Russia could use to cut out Ukraine as a gas transit route, depriving Kyiv of lucrative income and undermining its struggle with Moscow-backed eastern separatists.

And during her 16 years in power, she has worked hard for closer German and European economic ties with China, which the Biden administration sees as a global threat that it wants to counter with a joint front of democratic countries.

“The problem for the U.S. is that Merkel has the upper hand, because she has decided that the status quo in the trans-Atlantic relationship is good enough for Germany,” said Ulrich Speck, an independent foreign policy analyst. “Biden by contrast needs to win over Germany for his new China strategy.”

Officials from both sides are engaged in intense discussions to resolve the issue and stave off the reimposition of sanctions that Biden waived in May. Biden has opposed the project, but he is also facing increasing pressure from U.S. lawmakers to reimpose sanctions.

“Nord Stream 2 is the area where you most realistically can expect progress,” said Thorsten Benner of the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi). “Merkel may hope to get away with providing guarantees for Ukraine’s continued role as a gas transit country and a vague snapback mechanism that would kick in if Russia seeks to cut transit through Ukraine.”

A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Biden would underscore his opposition when he meets with Merkel, but the waiver had given diplomatic space for both sides to “address the negative impacts of the pipeline”.

“Our teams are continuing to discuss how we can credibly and concretely ensure that Russia cannot use energy as a coercive tool to disrupt Ukraine, eastern flank allies or other states,” the official said.

Merkel, who will step down after an election in September, vowed during a news conference on Monday with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Germany and the European Union will guarantee Ukraine’s status as a transit country.

“We promised Ukraine and will keep our promise,” said Merkel. “It is my custom to keep my word and I believe this applies to every future chancellor.”

The issue of China is more complicated.

Merkel was an advocate of an investment pact between the European Union and China struck late last year on the eve of Biden taking office, and she has been criticized for not facing up to Beijing on human rights violations in Hong Kong and against a Muslim minority in Xinjiang, which the United States has labelled a genocide.

“There will likely be a joint call by Biden and Merkel for China to step up its efforts on carbon reduction and global health, maybe a reference to the need to further open the Chinese market,” Benner said. “But don’t expect anything from Merkel that will remotely look like there is a joint trans-Atlantic front on China.”

The two countries also remain at odds over a proposed temporary waiver of intellectual property rights to help increase production of COVID-19 vaccines, a measure backed by Washington, and the United States’ refusal to ease travel restrictions on visitors from Europe.

(Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington; Writing by Joseph Nasr; editing by David Evans)

Lukashenko orders closure of Belarus border with Ukraine – BelTA

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Belarus’ leader Alexander Lukashenko on Friday ordered the closure of the border with Ukraine, seeking to block what he called an inflow of weapons to coup-plotters detected by his security services, BelTA state news agency reported.

The move appears to deepen a standoff between Belarus and outside powers angered by his government’s forcing down of a Ryanair flight in May and arrest of a government critic who was on the aircraft.

Western countries imposed sanctions on Belarus to punish it for the action, and the European Union and Ukraine have also banned Belarus-registered flights from entering their airspace.

Lukashenko, who has repeatedly accused Western ill-wishers of trying to oust him from power, said rebel groups that were planning to carry out a coup had been uncovered in Belarus.

Speaking at a gathering marking the country’s Independence Day, the veteran leader said Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and the United States were behind the alleged rebel activity, BelTA reported.

“A huge amount of weapons is coming from Ukraine to Belarus. That’s why I ordered border-security forces to fully close the border with Ukraine,” Lukashenko said.

Belarus shares a border with Ukraine in the south. It borders Poland and Lithuania in the west, Latvia in the north, and Russia in the east.

The move to shut borders with Ukraine comes days after Belarus recalled its permanent representative to the European Union for consultations after Brussels imposed economic sanctions.

But Lukashenko, who was also sanctioned by the West for a sweeping political crackdown, is seen largely unscathed by the penalties and able to continue financing the economy and his security forces, rating agencies and analysts have said.

(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Toby Chopra, Editing by William Maclean)

Russia warns UK and U.S. not to tempt fate in Black Sea

By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia warned Britain and the United States on Friday against “tempting fate” by sending warships to the Black Sea, and said it would defend its borders using all possible means including military force.

In a statement broadcast on state television, the Defense Ministry said it was ill-advised for British and U.S. vessels to approach the coast of Crimea, a peninsula Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

“We call on the Pentagon and the British navy, which are sending their warships into the Black Sea, not to tempt fate in vain,” Major General Igor Konashenkov, the ministry’s spokesperson, said.

HMS Defender, a British destroyer that sailed through waters off Crimea on Wednesday, was “not more than a target” for the Black Sea fleet’s defenses, he said.

Russia considers Crimea part of its territory, but the peninsula is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.

Russia said on Wednesday it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship to chase it out of Black Sea waters off the coast of Crimea.

Britain rejected Russia’s account of the incident. It said it believed any shots fired were a pre-announced Russian “gunnery exercise”, and that no bombs had been dropped.

It confirmed HMS Defender had sailed through what it said were waters belonging to Ukraine.

The British embassy in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgian the South Caucasus, wrote on Twitter on Friday that HMS Defender was set to arrive in the port city of Batumi on the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said separately that Washington and London were sowing strife by failing to accept Crimea was part of Russia, and that Russia was ready to defend its borders using all means, including military force.

Moscow warned Britain on Thursday that it would bomb British naval vessels in the Black Sea if what it called provocative actions by the British navy were repeated off the Crimean coast.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said separately on Friday that it was beginning joint navy and air force exercises in the eastern Mediterranean, where Moscow operates an air base on Syria’s coast.

(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy, Alexander Marrow and Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Editing by Katya Golubkova, Timothy Heritage, William Maclean)

Russia says it chases British destroyer out of Crimea waters with warning shots, bombs

By Maria Kiselyova and Andrew MacAskill

MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) -Russia said on Wednesday it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship to chase it out of waters Moscow claims in the Black Sea off the coast of the Crimea peninsula.

Britain rejected Russia’s account of the incident, saying it believed any shots fired were a pre-announced Russian “gunnery exercise,” and that no bombs had been dropped. But it confirmed that its destroyer, HMS Defender, had sailed through what it described as waters belonging to Ukraine.

The ship was “conducting an innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said: “It’s incorrect to say either that it was fired upon or that the ship was in Russian waters.”

Military experts said that whether or not the details of the Russian or British accounts were accurate, the incident appeared to represent an escalation in confrontation between the West and Russia over disputed sea lanes.

Russia’s foreign ministry called the passage of the British warship through the area an act of “blatant provocation” and said it would summon the British ambassador over the incident.

Russia seized and annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and considers areas around the peninsula’s coast to be Russian waters. Western countries deem the Crimea part of Ukraine and reject Russia’s claim to the seas around it.

“Innocent passage” is an internationally recognized right for ships to sail through territorial waters of a country provided they mean no harm.

“This was done to test Russian resolve over Crimea,” Mark Gray, a maritime security specialist and a retired colonel with Britain’s Royal Marines, told Reuters.

“Russia is trying to create facts on the ground and get them respected internationally, so that their annexation is in effect rubber-stamped by the world,” he said, comparing Moscow’s Black Sea claims to those of Beijing in the South China Sea, also rejected by the West.

“Nonetheless, the Russian response is extraordinarily robust, a tad undiplomatic and way over the top.”

SEA BREEZE

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the incident showed that Russia’s “aggressive and provocative policies” in the Black Sea and nearby Azov Sea constituted a “continuous threat to Ukraine and its allies.” In a tweet, Kuleba called for more cooperation between NATO and Ukraine in the Black Sea.

Western countries are conducting naval exercises this week in the Black Sea known as Sea Breeze. Hours before the incident, Russia’s embassy in Washington had called on the United States and allies to cancel them.

The British destroyer visited the Ukrainian port of Odessa this week, where an agreement was signed for Britain to help upgrade Ukraine’s navy.

Russia’s defense ministry, quoted by Interfax news agency, said the British destroyer had left Russian waters soon after Russia fired the warning shots. A Russian bomber dropped four high explosive fragmentation bombs in its path, it said.

The Russian ministry said the British ship had ventured as far as 3 kilometers (2 miles) into Russian waters near Cape Fiolent, a landmark on Crimea’s southern coast near the port of Sevastopol, headquarters of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea fleet.

“The destroyer had been warned that weapons would be used if it trespasses the border of the Russian Federation. It did not react to the warning,” the ministry said.

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov, Pavel Polityuk, Andrew MacAskill, William James and Jonathan SaulWriting by Olzhas Auyezov and Peter GraffEditing by Mark Heinrich and Gareth Jones)

Judge sees evidence of Buk missile being used in downing of MH17 airliner

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A judge in the Dutch murder trial over the downing of a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in 2014 said on Tuesday there was evidence the airplane was hit by an outside explosion caused by a Russian-made Buk missile.

Judges on Tuesday started reading out the evidence in the trial in the Netherlands against four fugitive suspects – three Russians and a Ukrainian citizen – accused of shooting down the plane on July 17 2014 and killing all 298 people on board.

Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in a field in territory held by pro-Russian separatists fighting against Ukrainian forces after being shot down with what international investigators say was a Russian surface-to-air missile.

“Experts have stated that the impact on the hull [of the plane] is compatible with a Buk missile system and a Buk warhead. No damage was found that would not be compatible with that scenario, or that would indicate another scenario,” judge Hendrik Steenhuis said.

After years of collecting evidence, a team of international investigators concluded in May 2018 that the missile launcher used to shoot down the aircraft belonged to Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade.

The Dutch government holds Moscow responsible. Russia denies any involvement.

The four suspects are standing trial in absentia. After a year of mostly procedural hearings, judges announced the start of the evidence phase on Monday.

This week the panel of judges will specifically look to determine what type of missile hit the airplane, where it was fired from and whether the four suspects can be held responsible.

“Today, it is about: was it a Buk missile or not?,” Hans de Borst, who lost his daughter in the crash, said before the hearing.

“I think the question is already answered but the court is now really answering it, so it’s important.”

(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Bart Biesemans, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Bitter week for families as evidence to be read in MH17 airliner trial

By Stephanie van den Berg

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Judges in the Netherlands will begin reading out the evidence this week in the murder trial against four fugitive suspects accused of shooting down a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in 2014 and killing 298 people in 2014.

Victims’ relatives said they were expecting the testimony to bring up painful memories, but that they were grateful for a chance to hear at last what had happened aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

The flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in a field in territory held by pro-Russian separatists fighting against Ukrainian forces, after being shot down with what international investigators say was a Russian surface-to-air missile.

Three Russians and a Ukrainian citizen, all suspected of having key roles in the separatist forces, are on trial for murder. Moscow has refused to extradite those in Russia.

One of the Russians is mounting a defense from abroad and denies blame, while the others have not appointed lawyers and are not participating.

“It is a very difficult day for us. It is now the first day of the prosecution, and that is difficult for us,” Evert van Zijtveld, who lost his two children Frederique and Robert-Jan and his wife’s parents, told journalists as he walked into court.

After a year of mostly procedural hearings, judges announced the start of the evidence phase on Monday. From Tuesday the judges will begin summarizing the evidence gathered by investigators in the case, and potentially calling witnesses.

Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said his panel would be looking specifically to determine what type of missile hit the airplane, where it was fired from and whether the four suspects can be held responsible.

“It is taking a long time but we want to know the truth. It is the only thing we can still do for the children,” said Rob Frederiksz, whose 23-year-old son Bryce died along with his girlfriend Daisy in the crash.

After years of collecting evidence, a team of international investigators concluded in May 2018 that the missile launcher used to shoot down the aircraft belonged to Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. The Dutch government holds Moscow responsible. Russia denies any involvement.

On Monday the Kremlin said it was following the trial and took note of “alternative information” that could lead to other explanations of the crash from the Dutch prosecutor’s main theory of the Russian-made missile fired by pro-Russian separatists.

“But again, because we are not part of the investigation, we cannot directly influence what is happening,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, additional reporting by Dmitry Antonov and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber in Moscow ; Editing by Peter Graff)

Putin says Nord Stream 2 gas link to be finished as U.S. seeks good European ties

By Vladimir Soldatkin and Katya Golubkova

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) -Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is ready to start pumping gas to Germany and the final stretch will be completed as the new U.S. administration seeks good relations with “key partners in Europe,” President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

Successive U.S. administrations have imposed sanctions to try to block the project that will ship gas directly from Russia to Germany, bypassing Western ally Ukraine.

Russia’s Gazprom has pressed ahead with building the pipeline after U.S. sanctions left it without a Western pipe-laying company in late 2019, but the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden last month waived some sanctions.

“I think it should be completed especially given that the new U.S. administration speaks of its intention to build up good relations with its key partners in Europe,” Putin told a forum in St Petersburg. “How can you build good relations with your partners and neglect their interests? This is a nonsense.”

Russia has finished laying pipes for the Nord Stream 2 first line and is set to finish the second one within two months, Putin said. Less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) are left to complete the project, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.

Once Nord Stream 2 is finished, it will double the existing route’s annual volume to 110 billion cubic meters and increase European energy dependency on Russia.

It also competes with shipments of U.S. liquefied natural gas and Biden has described the project as a “bad deal” for Europe.

But he explained the waiving of some sanctions last month by saying the project was nearly complete, and that continuing sanctions could have harmed ties with Europe.

Germany has advocated the project, while Ukraine is a strong opponent and sees it as a means for Moscow to exert political pressure and depriving Kyiv of transit fees.

Gazprom will start filling the first line with gas as soon as Germany grants its approval, Putin said. Gazprom shares rallied after the announcement, adding 0.75% and reaching 274 roubles ($3.76) per share, their highest since mid-2008.

As governments and investors ratchet up the pressure to decarbonize the fuel mix, fossil fuel energy is losing market share to renewable power, but Putin was bullish about demand and said that the Nord Stream 2 was a clean project as it did not involve fracking.

Russian gas supplies to Europe are seen exceeding 200 bcm this year and may rise by as much as 50 bcm in the next decade, Putin said. Ukraine must show good will if it wants Russian gas transit to Europe and the related fees to remain, he said.

($1 = 72.8970 roubles)

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Katya Golubkova; additional reporting by Oksana Kobzeva in Moscow and Timothy Gardner in Washington; Editing by Jon Boyle, Jonathan Oatis and Barbara Lewis)

Biden, Putin to meet in Geneva on June 16 amid disagreements

By Nandita Bose and Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Geneva on June 16, the White House and the Kremlin said on Tuesday amid sharp disputes over election interference, cyberattacks, human rights and Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that both countries were lowering expectations for breakthroughs at the superpower summit, with neither in a mood to make concessions on their disagreements.

“The leaders will discuss the full range of pressing issues, as we seek to restore predictability and stability to the U.S.-Russia relationship,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.

The Kremlin said in a statement that the two leaders would discuss bilateral ties, problems related to strategic nuclear stability, and other issues including cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 and regional conflicts.

Biden has previously said he wants Putin to stop trying to influence U.S. elections, stop cyberattacks on U.S. networks emanating from Russia, stop threatening Ukraine’s sovereignty and release jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

The White House has avoided describing Biden as seeking a “reset” in relations with Putin, a term often used by former U.S. presidents as they seek to improve relations with Russia.

Rather, U.S. officials see the face-to-face meeting as an opportunity to tilt the relationship away from what they view as former President Donald Trump’s fawning overtures to Putin.

Russian officials told Reuters they regard the summit as an opportunity to hear from Biden directly after what a source close to the Russian government said were mixed messages from the U.S. administration that took office on Jan. 20.

Putin views U.S. pressure over Navalny and its support for pro-democracy activists in Russia and Belarus as tantamount to interfering in Russian domestic affairs.

Russia is also unhappy about U.S. sanctions, including those announced on April 15 that included curbs to the Russian sovereign debt market to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2020 U.S. election, cyber hacking, bullying Ukraine and other alleged malign actions which Russia denies.

The U.S. government blacklisted Russian companies, expelled Russian diplomats and barred U.S. banks from buying sovereign bonds from Russia’s central bank, national wealth fund and Finance Ministry. The United States warned Russia that more penalties were possible but said it did not want to escalate.

Russia denies meddling in U.S. elections, orchestrating a cyber hack that used U.S. tech company SolarWinds Corp SWI.N to penetrate U.S. government networks and employing a nerve agent to poison Navalny, who is imprisoned on charges he says are politically motivated.

Biden has also voiced concerns about the buildup of Russian forces in Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in March 2014, and along the border with Ukraine, which have raised U.S. worries about a possible invasion.

Another topic likely to come up is Western outrage at Belarus, which scrambled a fighter and forced a Ryanair plane to land on Sunday in Minsk, where authorities arrested a Belarusian dissident journalist aboard the plane.

Russia has denied reports four of its citizens got off the plane in Minsk, which sparked suspicions of Russian involvement.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Nandita Bose; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Howard Goller)

U.S. stands by Ukraine against ‘reckless’ Russian actions – Blinken

By Matthias Williams and Natalia Zinets

KYIV (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday Washington could increase security assistance for Ukraine after what he called Russia’s “reckless and aggressive” actions in massing troops near its border.

During a visit to Kyiv intended to show support for Ukraine, Blinken said Russia had left behind significant numbers of troops and equipment despite announcing a withdrawal of its forces from close to the border after a standoff that alarmed the West.

Blinken also said President Joe Biden was keen to visit Ukraine and meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but gave no details on that or on Ukraine’s aspirations to join the NATO military alliance.

“We are aware that Russia has withdrawn some forces from the border of Ukraine, but we also see that significant forces remain there, significant equipment remains there,” Blinken said, speaking alongside Zelenskiy.

“We are monitoring the situation very, very closely,” he said. “And I can tell you, Mr President, that we stand strongly with you, partners do as well. I heard the same thing when I was at NATO a couple of weeks ago and we look to Russia to cease reckless and aggressive actions.”

Washington is “actively looking at strengthening even further our security cooperation and our security assistance”, he said, without giving details.

Zelenskiy said Russia had withdrawn only about 3,500 of the tens of thousands of troops deployed to the Crimea peninsula which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

“There may be a threat. Nobody wants these surprises,” he said.

Blinken mixed solidarity with calls for Ukraine to stick to a path of reforms and fighting corruption and the influence of oligarchs. The State Department expressed concern about the firing of a reformist energy official last week.

TALK ABOUT FUTURE, NOT PAST

Biden had pledged “unwavering support” to Zelenskiy in April as Kyiv and Moscow traded blame for clashes in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region and Russia’s troop deployment.

Moscow announced a withdrawal of its forces on April 22, helping pave the way for a summit between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, possibly as early as June.

The standoff prompted Ukraine to call for the United States and Europe to help accelerate Kyiv’s NATO entry. Zelenskiy asked Blinken for support in securing a Membership Action Plan at a NATO summit in June.

Washington has been Kyiv’s most powerful backer since Russia annexed Crimea and the conflict between Ukrainian soldiers and Russian-backed separatists began. Kyiv says the fighting has killed 14,000 people in seven years.

The relationship was tested in 2019 when then-President Donald Trump asked Zelenskiy to investigate Biden and the business activities of his son Hunter in Ukraine, and the Trump administration temporarily froze security aid to Kyiv.

The fallout from those events, which led to Trump’s impeachment trial, continued last week as federal agents raided the apartment and office of Trump’s former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, in relation to his activities in Ukraine.

“I don’t want to waste your time on the past, let’s talk about the future,” Zelenskiy said when asked about Giuliani.

Kyiv would like Washington to supply more military hardware to Ukraine. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Reuters last month that this included equipment to counter Russia’s capacity to jam Ukrainian communications.

In a CNN interview, Kuleba said Ukraine was also asking for air defense systems and anti-sniper technology.

After meeting Blinken on Thursday, Kuleba said he had been assured that nothing would be decided at a meeting between Putin and Biden without taking into account Ukraine’s interests.

(Reporting by Matthias Williams, Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk; writing by Matthias Williams, Editing by Angus MacSwan and Timothy Heritage)