Seven ex-ambassadors of the United States of America to Ukraine have addressed politicians of both countries over the opening of proceedings regarding alleged meddling by the then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in the then Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin's activity.
"We strongly condemn these efforts to divide our two countries and call on officials in both to avoid steps that will only erode the bilateral relationship and alienate our countries from one another," they said in a joint statement posted by the Atlantic Council on May 26.
They note that over the past three decades, the United States and Ukraine have developed a broad and robust relationship that serves the interests of both countries, countries that share values such as democracy, liberty, and human freedom.
"Ukraine's success in developing as an independent, stable, democratic state with a strong market economy, anchored to European institutions, advances the U.S. interest in a more stable and secure Europe," they say.
According to them, the bilateral relationship has long enjoyed wide bipartisan support in the United States, including in Congress and from both Republican and Democratic presidents alike. It has also enjoyed support from a broad political spectrum in Ukraine.
"We have worked over the years to build and strengthen the U.S.-Ukrainian strategic partnership established in 1996. We thus are disheartened by efforts to inject Ukraine into America's domestic politics as the 2020 U.S. presidential election approaches. Those efforts advance a false and toxic narrative, one with no basis in the reality of U.S.-Ukraine relations, in order to weaken the relationship between the United States and Ukraine and sow division within our two countries. That serves neither country's interests," the ambassadors said.
The statement was signed by 1st U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (Ret.) Roman Popadiuk, 3rd U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (Ret.) Steven Pifer, 4th U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (Ret.) Carlos Pascual, 5th U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (Ret.) John Herbst, 6th U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (Ret.) William Taylor, 7th U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (Ret.) John Tefft, and 9th U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (Ret.) Marie Yovanovitch.
Read also"Biden-Kerry-Poroshenko tapes" reveal push for prosecutor general's dismissal
As UNIAN reported earlier, incumbent Prosecutor General in Ukraine Iryna Venediktova opened a criminal case after Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach on May 19, 2020, released recordings of alleged negotiations between the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
In the course of these conversations, Poroshenko was allegedly required to ensure the dismissal of Viktor Shokin from the post of prosecutor general. Earlier, Shokin, who served as prosecutor general in 2015-2016, claimed that he had been forced to write a letter of resignation over an investigation against Burisma officials.
He suggested that Burisma Holdings Limited had U.S. support. In 2014, the son of the then vice president of the United States, Hunter Biden, became a member of the board of directors at Burisma.
Judge of Kyiv's Pechersky district court Serhiy Vovk has recently ordered the Prosecutor General's Office to open criminal proceedings regarding alleged meddling by the then U.S. Vice President Biden in Shokin's activity.
