Ukraine is embroiled in a corruption scandal amid ongoing US-led ceasefire talks with Russia, and it could get worse for Kiev as Donald Trump’s eldest son suggested on Sunday that the US president could withdraw from the deal.
While Trump Jr. has played no major public role in the US-brokered Russia-Ukraine talks, his latest comments are likely to be alarming to the administration led by Volodymyr Zelensky, especially in the wake of the recent scandal that led to the resignation of Andriy Yermak.
What did Donald Trump Jr. say?
Speaking at the Doha forum, Trump Jr. highlighted Ukraine’s questionable record, saying: “It was a far more corrupt country than Russia as delegated by the United States government before this war.”
“But then because of the war, and because he’s one of the great businessmen of all time, Zelenskyy became a border deity, especially for the left, where we could do no wrong. He was beyond reproach,” Trump Jr. said.
“…Years of corruption, years of bribery and theft on the world stage that everyone in this room knew was going on has been completely exonerated… It’s ridiculous,” the US president’s eldest son continued before dropping the bombshell.
Asked if he had “an inkling” that the US president had pulled out of ongoing talks due to a corruption scandal, Trump Jr. he categorically replied, “I think he can”.
“What’s good about my dad, what’s unique about my dad is you don’t know what he’s going to do … And so it forces everybody to act in a really intellectually honest way, which hasn’t happened in a very long time,” Trump Jr. added.
(This is a developing story. Check back for updates)
