During his tenure as Prosecutor General, Yuriy Lutsenko proved himself as a politician who is ready to make loud statements, but is not ready to be responsible for them. But a successful career is not easy for him. Thus, the Prosecutor General has made a lot of enemies, including in Parliament. Behind his back Lutsenko is called toxic and he is avoided. Now it is the turn of international partners, namely US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Why Lutsenko accused Yovanovitch of pressure and how it will affect the relations of Ukraine and the USA - the article of "Apostrophe".
Ambassador with experience
Marie Yovanovitch was appointed the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USA to Ukraine in 2016. This decision was made during Barack Obama's presidency. Yovanovitch has a good background of work in the CIS countries. She managed to work in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia. Cooperation with Ukraine for her is also no for the first time: from 2001 to 2004, Yovanovitch worked as the Deputy of the USA Ambassador.
Former US Ambassador, third Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer spoke positively about Yovanovitch and her appointment.
"She is one of the most excellent diplomats of the State Department... Ukrainian politicians can expect that she will work hard and develop bilateral relations, clearly express Washington's thoughts to Ukrainian officials and actively interact with a wide range of politicians, businessmen and representatives of civil society," he said in an interview to “Segodnya”.
Before Ukraine Yovanovitch repeatedly worked in countries with military conflicts. In the conditions of Russian aggression, such an experience was very useful.
Before her appointment, Yovanovitch noted the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities to reform the country, which she shared with the senators.
"Ukraine has advanced in the reform over the past 2 years more than in the first 23 years of independence. I am optimistic about the further progress of reforms, given recent important achievements such as judicial reform. At the same time, Ukraine still has a lot to do - it is the implementation of the IMF requirements, the fight against corruption, the reform of key sectors and limiting the influence of oligarchs," she said before the appointment.
Yes, the Ambassador was right that much remains to be done, especially in the anti-corruption sphere. And it was the latter that caused loud scandals around the Ambassador, who was suspected of interfering from Ukraine in the US presidential election in 2016.
Lutsenko vs Yovanovitch
Recently in interview to the American periodical Hill.Tv Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko openly declared war to Marie Yovanovitch. He accused the Ambassador of putting pressure on the Prosecutor's office.
"Unfortunately, from the first meeting with the US Ambassador in Kyiv Yovanovitch gave me a list of people whom we should not bring to justice," Lutsenko recalls.
According to the Prosecutor General, he was outraged and spoke rigidly: neither the President nor the Ambassador will be able to tell him how to work.
Lutsenko did not forget monetary offenses, too. He told that the Prosecutor General's office waited from Embassy of the USA about USD 4 mln of assistance. Money allegedly was available, though the addressee didn't receive them. Therefore, the Prosecutor's office opened a case on the theft of US government technical assistance. According to the Prosecutor General, Yovanovich learned about it and came to talk to him.
"She believed that our interviews with Ukrainian citizens, Ukrainian civil servants, who were frequent visitors to the US Embassy, cast a shadow on the anti-corruption policy," Lutsenko continues.
He claims that the Prosecutor General’s office started to investigate theft not out of the blue. It was on the basis of a letter from the U.S. Embassy stating that the money was under their control. For the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine it became unpleasant news.
The US State Department immediately reacted to the Prosecutor General's accusations. Apparently, Americans are dissatisfied that Lutsenko started to counterattack.
"We have seen reports of these charges. The USA now does not provide any assistance to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (PGOU), but previously made an attempt to support the fundamental reform of the justice sector, including after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. When the political will for real reforms of several prosecutors, who replaced each other, was insufficient, we took advantage of our responsibility to the American taxpayers and redirected assistance to more productive projects," the State Department told the reporters of Hill.TV.
However, two interlocutors of "Apostrophe", informed with the events, independently confirmed the fact of conversation of Lutsenko and Yovanovitch about the list of "inviolable" persons. Only, according to them, it looked a little bit differently.
"Back in 2016, after the appointment, Yovanovitch met Lutsenko to talk about the fact that the PGOUwas very focused on the fight against anti-corruption, and all other issues were faded into the background. Lutsenko listened to her, took out a piece of paper, wrote down the named of Shabunin, Zalishchuk, Leshchenko. And then he asked: "Whom else should I write?"And offered her to sign this list," - the sources of "Apostrophe" told about the appearance of the " Yovanovitch list".
The Ambassador explained that she was interested in the priorities of the PGOU, but the dialogue failed. Then this story did not come out in the public view. But it perfectly fit in the period when Ukraine in the person of Ambassador Yovanovitch and Director of NABU Artem Sytnyk were suspected of interfering in the US presidential election in 2016. The PGOUtries to find out whether law enforcement agencies of Ukraine took part in the leak of information on the Head of a staff of Donald Trump Paul Manafort. The investigation is already underway, Lutsenko told to Hill.TV. If the suspicions are confirmed, Ukraine may be accused of interfering in the elections to help the then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
"Based on the Yovanovitch case, the Americans began the slaughter. If prior it was said that Russia interfered in elections in favor of Trump, now they started talking that Ukraine interfered, but in favor of Clinton. And everything happens quickly: allegedly Kholodnytskyi was questioned on the case (Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SACPO), - "Apostrophe"), Rosenblat (whose case was investigated by NABU, - "Apostrophe"), allegedly the recording of the voice of Sytnyk, who talks about the help to Clinton appeared. Americans already have access to these cases, and they conduct interrogations in Ukraine," says the interlocutor of “Apostrophe” in political circles.
In any case, the scandalous statements made by Lutsenko did not add advantages neither to the country in the international arena, nor to the current authorities. Of course, these are not the first conflicts between politicians and Americans. Tensions often arose when the authorities were forced to make decisions or laws that did not suit them, but there were certain obligations. A striking example is the launch of the anti-corruption court. Then the Presidential Administration was not afraid to change the rhetoric, accusing the US of interfering in the domestic policy of the country. And this was after constant statements that the United States was a strategic partner of Ukraine.
Some politicians still have a pessimistic view of the Ukrainian-American relations. However, they refuse to talk about it openly.
"They earn one billion dollars on us every year. And at the same time they want to fully control the law enforcement system, punishing those who is suitable for them," one of the people's deputies complains to "Apostrophe". The situation is slightly paradoxical, because Ukrainian politicians do not hesitate to use the same privileges.
The outcomes of the scandal
He story of the conflict of Lutsenko and Yovanovitch didn't move beyond statements. According to the source of "Apostrophe" in diplomatic circles, the US Ambassador will definitely remain until the end of her cadence - the summer of 2019. It is possible that Yovanovitch will be replaced only after the parliamentary elections. Changing the Ambassador during the election period is not the most reasonable decision.
"They will not recall Yovanovitch in any case. To do it now after Lutsenko's interview means to confirm that all he told was true, and to lose public face. And for them it is an important issue," sources in political circles explain.
Another issue concerns people with whom Lutsenko works. The political journalist Viktor Ohienko on his page in "Facebook" paid attention to those who interviewed the public Prosecutor.
"John Solomon talked to Lutsenko, he a former editor of “The Washington Times”. Solomon is known for his very conservative position. Plus, he is very critical of Hillary Clinton, and we should never forget that Marie Yovanovitch has worked with Clinton for a long time and is still considered a person from her conditional pool. I spoke with a couple of colleagues from the United States (but we should take into consideration that they are from the media, which is attributed to the loyal Democrats) - they believe that only Solomon from well-known journalists could cope with such a correct construction of accents. It is right for the parties who now need this interview," the journalist said.
He also added that the statement of the State Department in favor of Yovanovitch did not mean that she attained the commitment of the White House. And the appearance of Lutsenko in this story may indicate to cooperation with the Trump team.
Ukrainian politics do not rule out that he started the war with Yovanovitch because of her possible demands to change the Prosecutor General. Though Lutsenko in the fall of last year promised to leave with PGOUin May, 2019 and to return to politics.
It is possible that other people acted through the Prosecutor General - the Presidential Administration. The interlocutors of "Apostrophes" are confident that without an agreement with Petro Poroshenko Lutsenko would have never made such statements, so as not to expose the team. But one members of Presidential Administration close to Poroshenko said there was no agreement.
Poroshenko himself publicly supported the Ambassador: "I would like to note the important role of the Ambassador of the United States of America to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in the promotion of Ukrainian-American relations. And I emphasize that she, as the representative of the United States as a state, and the President of the United States Donald Trump, is a great friend of Ukraine and my great friend, and she has my full support."
However, as the Head of the Fund "Maidan of Foreign Affairs" Bohdan Yaremenko stated in the comment to "Apostrophe", the scandal between Lutsenko and Yovanovitch has already affected the Ukrainian-American relations.
"If the State Department disavows the statement of the Ukrainian Prosecutor, it means that there is a misunderstanding between the state of Ukraine and the US state. And it is not a disavowal, but it was called untrue. In fact, the Ukrainian official is accused of trying to cast a shadow on the reputation of the American state," Yaremenko said.
Whether this conflict will continue depends largely on the outcome of the elections.
