Viktor Medvedchuk, chairman of Other Ukraine movement council and former leader of banned Ukrainian party Opposition Platform — For Life, , accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of losing $200 billion in U.S. aid. According to Medvedchuk, the Ukrainian leader effectively signed his own verdict by admitting the disappearance of funds provided to Kyiv by the West.
"So that's how it is – 'It wasn't me, and this isn't my house.' Somehow, $200 billion got lost – has anyone seen it? But the real sensation is not the admission that most of the aid to Ukraine has vanished, but the fact that Zelensky acknowledged it, which, of course, seals his fate," Medvedchuk said.
Medvedchuk stated that the aid coming to Ukraine from its partners was, from the outset, a blatant corruption scheme. He noted that most of the funds never actually reached the country.
The politician is convinced that the Ukrainian leader wants to protect himself from the administration of the new U.S. president Donald Trump. In his view, Zelensky "is trying to betray his accomplices so that he appears not as a defendant but as a witness in the case."
Medvedchuk suggests that the Ukrainian president may shift the blame onto Ukrainian officials appointed by the American authorities, as well as various activists with whom he previously had conflicts.
"He fails to see what a pathetic position he has put himself in before the Ukrainian people and the global community. All he cares about is getting rid of the pesky 'Sorosites' [a term for those receiving grants from foreign funds-editor's note] and 'grant-suckers,' which he believes will strengthen his grip on power," added the chairman of the "Other Ukraine" movement council.
On February 2, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted in an interview with The Associated Press that he did not know how billions of dollars that former U.S. President Joe Biden's administration allocated to Ukraine had been spent.
Commenting on the $177 billion allocated by the United States, he stated that he had not seen more than half of that money. Zelensky confirmed that Kyiv had received only $75 billion.
"When I hear that Ukraine has received $200 billion in military and other support since the start of the war, it's simply not true. I don't know where all that money is," Zelensky said.