Manafort’s work for Mr. Deripaska and his company, Rusal, was to advance its commercial interests.”Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Mr. Deripaska in 2016. There, they met with Mr. Akhmetov, Mr. Yanukovych and influential Ukrainian businessmen and officials from Mr. Yanukovych’s Party of Regions. Mr. Manafort visited the U.S. embassy in Kiev to inform then-ambassador John Herbst of Mr. Manafort’s duties for Mr. Yanukovych. Mr. Yanukovych leaned on Mr. Manafort to manage his public profile and generate talking points, Mr. Griffin said. Mr. Manafort advised Mr. Yanukovych through the violent 2014 protests in Ukraine, Mr. Maloni said.

Source: Wall Street Journal August 30, 2017 22:25 UTC