Pompeo: U.S. provided arms to Ukraine for defense against Russia

12.11.2019 09:30

Ukrinform

The current U.S. administration has made significant efforts to support Ukraine, including by providing weapons to the people of Ukraine and supporting anti-corruption reforms in the country, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said.

He said this in an interview with WCSC-TV, the transcript of which was released by the U.S. Department of State.

"I was part of America's Ukraine policy. We were very clear. We wanted to make sure that the corruption that has been existing in Ukraine for an awfully long time was reduced, and President [Volodymyr] Zelensky had the capability to do that," he said, commenting the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Pompeo noted that President Trump wanted to make sure "that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin wouldn't be able to inflict hardship on the people of Ukraine." So, according to him, the United States provided defensive weapons systems to Ukraine.

Pompeo also stressed that the previous U.S. administration chose not to do that for the people of Ukraine. "They chose to provide blankets. We gave them real weapons, where they could fight against the Russians. I am proud of what the administration did with its Ukraine policy," he said.

A political scandal erupted in the United States in September after an intelligence officer who processed Trump's July 25 phone call with Zelensky submitted a complaint to his leadership. According to him, some statements by the U.S. president could be interpreted as pressure on the Ukrainian side so that it could launch an investigation into the family of Joe Biden, Trump's main competitor in the U.S. presidential election.

A transcript of Trump's phone call with Zelensky was released on the White House's website on September 25.

In the wake of the scandal, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry to Donald Trump.