Thanks far answering. I'll come back to it later. For now, perhaps you'll consider that the US Senate held similar views on the removal of Shokin, further confirming that Biden was not orchestrating his removal...unless he is an unprecedented genius I suppose. I don't believe either of us think that is true, though.
Anyway -
https://www.foreign.senate.gov/in my opinion/medi ... vasion.pdf
Senator Cardin: I again call on Ukraine’s leaders to show courage and resolve in
pursuing progress against corrupt individuals who wield influence in the country. I believe the United States can play a role as well as exposing and pursuing corrupt Ukrainian officials who use U.S. financial institutions to direct their ill-gotten gains.
An important step was taken when General Prosecutor Shokin resigned earlier this year, but parliament must now accept his resignation. And this must be followed by a commitment to take concrete steps towards judicial reform, civil service reform, law enforcement reform, and a transparent and open privatization process of Ukraine’s 1,800 state-owned enterprises.
JOHN E. HERBST, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE, DIRECTOR, DINU PATRICIU EURASIA
CENTER, ATLANTIC COUNCIL, WASHINGTON, DC
Early this year, three reform ministers resigned quietly. Then
Economic Minister Abramavicius resigned complaining that he could not do his job because of corruption, and that corruption went all the way to the top. Reformers in civil society spoke up for Mr. Abramavicius, so did the U.S., the EU, and the IMF. In response, President Poroshenko called for the removal of Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, and the Rada passed reform legislation that had been blocked for months.
AMBASSADOR (RET.) JOHN E. HERBST
They pointed to the failure of the government—through the
Procurator General— to indict any major figures from the Yanukovych administration for corruption. They complained, too, that Procurator General Viktor Shokin
was a compromised figure who had served as Procurator General in the Yanukovych
administration.
By late fall of 2015, the EU and the United States joined the chorus of those seeking Mr. Shokin’s removal as the start of an overall reform of the Procurator General’s Office. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke publicly about this before and during his December visit to Kyiv; but Mr. Shokin remained in place.
Early in the new year Mr. Pavlenko, the Minister of Agriculture; Mr. Pyvovarskiy,
the Minister of Infrastructure; and Mr. Kvitashvili, the Minister of Health, quietly
resigned. This had little impact on the reform debate. But in early February Mr.
Abromavicius, the Minister of Economy, resigned and complained that he was tired
of fighting corruption. He said that the immediate cause for his decision was an effort by close presidential aide Ihor Kononenko to install a crony as Deputy Minister
of Economy with responsibility for the newly-cleaned up Naftogaz. Mr. Kononenko
denied the charge, but civil society and other reformers took Mr. Abromavicius’ side.
So did the West. The United States, the EU, and eight Ambassadors of other
countries expressed regret at Mr. Abromavicius’ resignation. So did IMF Managing
Director Christine Lagarde. In response to the controversy, Mr. Poroshenko called
for Mr. Shokin’s removal and for an investigation
...
U.S. Policy: Plus and Minus
Washington’s approach to reform and the Ukrainian economy is also mixed. On the plus side, the Obama administration understands well the nuances of Ukrainian reform. It recognizes that the government in Kyiv needs outside encouragement and, at times, tough love, to make the right reform choice. Mr. Biden, in particular, has devoted a great deal of time to promoting reform in Ukraine, and he has not been reluctant to tell Mr. Poroshenko and Mr. Yatsenyuk when they have shirked the hard choices that need to be made. This was evident in the conversations regarding Mr. Shokin and the Office of the Procurator General.
...
The CHAIRMAN. No. Thank you very much for your testimony.
Obviously, the title of this hearing has been more about reforms
in Ukraine and concerns that Europe may utilize the lack of some
of those reforms occurring as a reason to loosen sanctions, which
we do not want to see happen.
But could you follow up, Mr. Herbst? It appears that in your tes-timony—and I want to ask Mr. Brzezinski the same thing—that
right now you feel that our push towards Ukraine’s reformation
process is not balanced, and that we are not doing enough on the
other side of the equation to push Russia. Is that correct?
Ambassador HERBST Absolutely. Our military support for
Ukraine has been growing, and it is much better today than it was
a year ago, but it is still inadequate. And we still worry far too
much about, quote/unquote, annoying or provoking Russia than
about defending our interests in Ukraine because Mr. Putin is vulnerable in Ukraine. His people do not want the Russian army
fighting in Ukraine. And there are thousands and thousands of
Russian soldiers right now.
The lethal defensive equipment we would provide would make it
much more painful for Russia to commit its next offensive action.
And while I am not expecting a major offensive, the Russians are
grabbing land every week or trying to grab land every week. They
have taken at least 700 additional square kilometers under the
Minsk ceasefires. We want to make it much more painful for them
to do that.