Parnas is not trustworthy, Ukraine foreign minister says

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko attacked
the credibility of the scandalous U.S. lobbyist Lev Parnas in a Jan. 16
interview with CNN television network. “Frankly, I have not spoken with this
individual, and again, frankly, I don’t trust any word he is now saying,” he
said. In the interview, Prystaiko also implied that the delay in U.S. aid to
Ukraine was not related to the Zelensky administration’s refusal to perform
political favors for Trump, as has been alleged by the articles of impeachment
approved by the U.S. House. “The assistance that he’s (Parnas) is referring to
was reviewed each and every year, annually at least twice, at half of the year
and end of the year. So we knew this was going to be reviewed. Sometimes it
would be cut because of some political understanding of what is to be done in
Ukraine,” he said.

Recall, Lev Parnas is a Soviet-born, U.S. citizen who
worked closely with Rudy Giuliani, the personal attorney of U.S. President
Trump, in lobbying the Poroshenko administration to investigate the business
dealings of Hunter Biden, the son of presidential contender Joe Biden. Since
his October indictment on unrelated criminal charges, Parnas has alleged that
Trump oversaw a deliberate campaign to pressure Zelensky to perform political
favors in exchange for military aid, which he also alleges was deliberately
withheld.

Zenon Zawada: Prystaiko’s
comments are revealing in the sense that he could have made neutral statements
on Parnas and his claims. Indeed, the Zelensky administration has been very
careful not to take any sides in the current conflict between the Republicans
and Democrats over Trump’s alleged crimes. Yet Prystaiko saw the need to
discredit Parnas, in what we see as an attempt to distance the Zelensky
administration from all his scandalous statements and actions, especially those
involving Poroshenko administration officials.

With Prystaiko’s comments, we also see the Zelensky
administration extending its policy of striving not to upset the White House.
Building upon Zelensky’s staunch position that Trump didn’t apply any pressure
for political favors ahead of the release of military aid, Prystaiko’s comments
add to the defense of Trump, casting doubt on the notion that the delay in aid
in 2019 was at all related to a lack of favors (regardless of whether pressure
was applied). Needless to say, Prystaiko’s comments help the Trump
administration in its efforts to discredit Parnas ahead of the impeachment trial.