U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Metropolitan Epifaniy, head
of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday Jan. 31,
2020. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP)
KYIV — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo opened a visit to
Ukraine on Friday facing a delicate balancing act as he tries to boost
ties with a critical ally at the heart of the impeachment trial while
not providing fodder for Democrats seeking to oust President Donald
Trump.
The highest-ranking American official to visit Ukraine since the
impeachment process began last year, Pompeo’s was meeting with Ukraine’s
president and other top officials. Trump is alleged to have pressed
them to open a corruption probe into former Vice President Joe Biden’s
family in return for vital military aid and a White House visit.
That process began last year with revelations about a July 25 phone call between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Pompeo’s meetings in Kyiv come as t he GOP-majority Senate prepared
to vote on whether to hear witnesses who could shed further light on
Trump’s actions toward Ukraine. The vote appeared likely to fail,
however, as a key Republican said he would vote against allowing new
testimony, boosting odds the Senate will vote to acquit in a matter of
days.
Met with Metropolitan Epiphaniy in Kyiv. Impressed by his efforts to ensure the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine is open to all believers. The U.S. will always champion the right of all people to worship freely. pic.twitter.com/nGsy3Wocbw— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 31, 2020
“U.S. support for Ukraine is unwavering, and I’m intent on
underscoring this as I meet with Ukrainian government leaders to discuss
ways we can advance our strategic partnership and reinforce Ukraine’s
position as a free and democratic state,” Pompeo said in a tweet after
arriving,
In addition to Zelenskiy, Pompeo is meeting Ukraine’s prime, foreign
and defense ministers as well as civic leaders, and touring several
Ukrainian Orthodox churches.
Trump is accused of obstructing Congress and abuse of office for
withholding a White House meeting with Zelenskiy and critical military
aid to the country in exchange for an investigation into Biden, a
political rival, and his son, Hunter.
Ukraine has been an unwilling star in the impeachment proceedings,
eager for good relations with Trump as it depends heavily on U.S.
support to defend itself from Russian-backed separatists. Trump, who has
still not granted Zelenskiy the White House meeting he craves, has
offered that support to some degree. Although the military assistance
was put on hold, it was eventually released after a whistleblower
complaint brought the July 25 call to light. The Trump administration
has also supplied Ukraine with lethal defense equipment, including
Javelin anti-tank weapons.
Pompeo plans to stress the importance of the U.S.-Ukraine
relationship, a sentiment long shared by Republicans and Democrats who
see the former Soviet republic as a bulwark against Russian ambitions.
But it’s a view that now has partisan overtones, with Democrats arguing
that withholding aid from such a critical ally for political purposes is
an impeachable offense.
The Senate is to vote on hearing impeachment witnesses later Friday.
Democrats want to hear from former national security adviser John
Bolton, whose forthcoming book reportedly says that Trump withheld the
aid in exchange for a public pledge of a probe into the Bidens. That
would back witnesses who testified before the House impeachment inquiry.
Ukraine has been a delicate subject for Pompeo, who last weekend
lashed out at a National Public Radio reporter for asking why he has not
publicly defended the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie
Yovanovitch. She was removed from her post after unsubstantiated
allegations were made against her by Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph
Giuliani.
Pompeo has been criticized for not publicly supporting Yovanovitch,
her now-departed successor as chief of the Kyiv embassy, William Taylor,
and other diplomats who testified before House impeachment
investigators. Yovanovitch and Taylor have been attacked by Trump
supporters and, in some cases, have been accused of disloyalty.
In the NPR interview, Pompeo took umbrage when asked if he owed
Yovanovitch an apology, and maintained that he had defended all of his
employees. In an angry encounter after the interview, he also questioned
if Americans actually cared about Ukraine, according to NPR.
That comment prompted Taylor and Pompeo’s former special envoy for
Ukraine, Kurt Volker, who also testified to the impeachment panel, to
write opinion pieces discussing the importance of the country to U.S.
national security and why Pompeo should be explaining its role to
Americans as their top diplomat.
Pompeo brushed aside his reported comment, telling reporters aboard
his plane that “of course, the American people care about the people of
Ukraine” and said his message to American diplomats in Ukraine would be
the same he gives to those at other embassies.
“The message is very similar to every embassy that I get a chance to
talk to when I travel,” he said. “I almost always meet with the team and
tell them how much we love them, appreciate them, appreciate their
family members and their sacrifice.”
He said he would “talk about the important work that the United
States and Ukraine will continue to do together to fight corruption
inside of that country and to ensure that America provides the support
that the Ukrainian people need to ensure that they have a free and
independent nation.”
Pompeo twice postponed earlier planned trips to Ukraine, most
recently in early January when developments with Iran forced him to
cancel. Pompeo said he plans to discuss the issue of corruption but
demurred when asked if he would specifically raise the Bidens or the
energy company Burisma, for which Hunter Biden worked.
“I don’t want to talk about particular individuals. It’s not worth
it,” he told reporters. “It’s a long list in Ukraine of corrupt
individuals and a long history there. And President Zelenskiy has told
us he’s committed to it. The actions he’s taken so far demonstrate that,
and I look forward to having a conversation about that with him as
well.”
Pompeo traveled to Kyiv from London, which was the first stop on a
trip to Europe and Central Asia that will also take him to Belarus,
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.