Kiev has not received half the funds it was promised, due to \u201clobbyist\u201d practices by the American military, the Ukrainian leader claimed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US corporate \u201ccorruption\u201d and \u201clobbying\u201d are to blame for Ukraine not receiving half the military aid it has been promised by Washington, Vladimir Zelensky has claimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ukrainian leader stated last month that while the US has allocated around $177 billion to finance Kiev since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, not all the funds or assistance packages have been delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman on Sunday, Zelensky claimed that Kiev has not yet received even half of the support promised by Washington. He claimed that he\u2019d appealed to Washington to be allowed use Ukraine’s own fleet of cargo planes to deliver aid to avoid paying transport fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo. I didn’t get this opportunity. My jets stayed put, and the US jets, cargo jets moved these weapons. But everywhere you have to spend money,\u201d Zelensky said, adding that Kiev could have spent the money to buy more arms instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs this corruption or not? Or lobbyism?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou mean corruption on the part of US companies?\u201d asked Fridman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dYes, making such decisions,\u201d clarified Zelensky. He went on to claim that he has been reluctant to talk about such cases so as not to cause a scandal that could lead to a suspension of aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dWhen we talk about corruption, we must ask, who is involved? If we had 177 [billion] and if we get the half, where is the [other] half? If you find the second half, you will find corruption,\u201d concluded Zelensky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cZelensky himself admitting that absolutely gigantic amounts of money have disappeared\u2026 in a normal media ecosystem [it] would be a scandal of enormous proportions,\u201d French entrepreneur and commentator Arnaud Bertrand lamented in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, pointing to a lack of reporting on the issue in the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelensky has previously made statements critical of his Western backers, demanding more weapons and aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In September, he expressed frustration over delayed arms shipments, stating that such delays were causing Ukraine to lose ground to Russian forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Lex Fridman interview, Zelensky revealed that he had urged US President-elect Donald Trump to hand over the West\u2019s $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to purchase weapons from the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moscow stated in response that Zelensky was \u201ccompletely out of his mind,\u201d and that his suggestion was proof of \u201cdeep-rooted corrupt ties\u201d between the Ukrainian leader and the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n