Since taking office, President Trump has criticized Ukraine for corruption and expressed sympathy with Russia's historical claim to parts of the country-views that have tempered his engagement with Ukraine.
Mr. Trump's skepticism on Ukraine was fueled even before he took office when, in the thick of the 2016 election, the country's anticorruption agency released information alleging payments to Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.
The president's skepticism toward Ukraine cropped up in deliberations in which he initially opposed the sale of missiles to Ukraine to bolster the nation's defenses against Russia, according to current and former officials.
The U.S. has also provided financial and other assistance to support Ukraine against Russia, especially since it annexed Crimea in 2014 and backed armed separatists in the eastern part of Ukraine.
Mr. Trump took steps to improve U.S. relations with Russia while accusing Ukraine of interfering in the 2016 election to help Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Catherine Croft, a top State Department official, told a closed-door impeachment hearing last month that throughout that meeting, Mr. Trump repeatedly described Ukraine as a "Corrupt country," a line he also took when Ukraine requested the purchase of U.S.-made Javelin antitank missiles.
Last month, defending the efforts of his lawyer Rudy Giuliani to push investigations in Ukraine, Mr. Trump told reporters: "He looks for corruption wherever he goes. Everybody understands Ukraine has big problems in that regard."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-view-of-ukraine-as-corrupt-took-shape-early-11573900201?mod=hp_lead_pos3
Mr. Trump's skepticism on Ukraine was fueled even before he took office when, in the thick of the 2016 election, the country's anticorruption agency released information alleging payments to Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.
The president's skepticism toward Ukraine cropped up in deliberations in which he initially opposed the sale of missiles to Ukraine to bolster the nation's defenses against Russia, according to current and former officials.
The U.S. has also provided financial and other assistance to support Ukraine against Russia, especially since it annexed Crimea in 2014 and backed armed separatists in the eastern part of Ukraine.
Mr. Trump took steps to improve U.S. relations with Russia while accusing Ukraine of interfering in the 2016 election to help Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Catherine Croft, a top State Department official, told a closed-door impeachment hearing last month that throughout that meeting, Mr. Trump repeatedly described Ukraine as a "Corrupt country," a line he also took when Ukraine requested the purchase of U.S.-made Javelin antitank missiles.
Last month, defending the efforts of his lawyer Rudy Giuliani to push investigations in Ukraine, Mr. Trump told reporters: "He looks for corruption wherever he goes. Everybody understands Ukraine has big problems in that regard."
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-view-of-ukraine-as-corrupt-took-shape-early-11573900201?mod=hp_lead_pos3
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