U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine this week, the State Department said on Monday, on the highest-level U.S. visit since President Donald Trump's impeachment over his handling of relations with Ukraine. The senior State Department official dodged questions about whether Mr. Pompeo would raise with Ukrainian leaders the investigations sought by Mr. Trump. The House inquiry concluded that Trump sought the investigations in return for granting Mr. Zelenskiy an Oval Office visit. It also found that Mr. Trump held back $391 million in congressionally approved aid that Ukraine needed to defend against Russia-backed separatists. The U.S. intelligence community and a bipartisan Senate investigation concluded that Russia interfered to swing the vote to Mr. Trump over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

Source: The Hindu December 30, 2019 20:14 UTC