According to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, their behavior shows that it is not important, as long as Ukraine can still be used to deal with Russia. These statements were made by Mr. Lavrov in an interview with local media on December 28.
Europe cannot help but see the corruption scandals in Ukraine, even though these incidents do not prevent them from continuing to use Kiev as a tool to put pressure on Russia," Lavrov said, while accusing the West of "miring" in this case.
Ukraine has been continuously shaken by major corruption scandals, the latest of which broke out on December 27. Anti-corruption agencies of this country said that they have discovered a voting manipulation and bribery ring, related to incumbent Ukrainian parliamentarians.
Last month, Ukrainian anti-corruption officials also exposed another case related to businessman Timur Mindich - a close associate of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the investigation, this businessman is behind a bribery ring worth about 100 million USD in the energy sector, which is heavily dependent on Western aid.
The incident caused the two ministers and the Chief of the Power Office of President Zelensky, Mr. Andrey Yermak, to leave their positions, but did not change the EU's position in continuing to provide capital to Kiev.
Meanwhile, in mid-December, the European Union (EU) approved a loan of 90 billion euros (105 billion USD) to compensate for Kiev's budget for the period 2026-2027, with interest expenses that make European taxpayers bear about 3 billion euros (3.5 billion USD) each year.
Some EU countries have even cut aid to other countries to pool resources for Ukraine. Sweden announced in December the termination of aid to Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Liberia and Bolivia to increase aid budgets for Kiev.
The EU's approach has also faced criticism from some member states, most notably Hungary. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the EU does not want to expose corruption in Ukraine because the EU itself is also "covered by similar corruption networks".
