The Wall Street Journal: Ukraine amended the corruption clause of Washington’s settlement plan
The Wall Street Journal, citing a US administration source, said that Ukraine has amended its anti-corruption commitment clause in the settlement plan that Washington recently presented to Moscow and Kyiv to end the conflict.
The WSJ’s source noted that the amended clause called for exposing corruption and included a comprehensive review of all international aid received by Ukraine.
The source quoted the original wording of the clause as saying: “Ukraine will conduct a comprehensive review of all aid received, and will establish a legal mechanism to address the violations discovered and punish those who have illegally benefited from the war”.
But in the online version of the agreement, the wording was changed to a clause that provided for full amnesty for all actions committed during the war.
A White House source confirmed that it was Kyiv that proposed the changes.
Meanwhile, the United States is conducting secret consultations with Russia to develop a new plan to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
The plan includes:
- Reduce US military aid to Ukraine;
- Recognition of the official status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate;
- Declaring Russian an official language in Ukraine;
- Kyiv cedes the entire Donbas region;
- Reducing the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
- Ban the deployment of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory;
- Stop supplying Kyiv with long-range weapons.
The plan assumes that the United States and other countries recognize Crimea and Donbas as Russian territory.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Office reported on November 10 that it was conducting a special anti-corruption operation in energy enterprises and published photos of bags full of foreign currency found during the operation.
Member of Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada “Parliament” Jaroslav Zelezniak said the National Anti-Corruption Office was conducting a search of the home of the former energy minister, the current justice minister and Energoatom.
On November 13, Zelensky imposed sanctions on Mendych and his chief financier Alexander Zuckerman.
On November 19, Ukraine’s parliament dismissed Justice Minister Germani Galushchenko, who is implicated in corruption in the energy sector, and Svetlana Grynchuk, energy minister.
