Questions about U.S. President Donald Trump's possibly shady relationship with Russia and the country's security services have long swirled, even culminating in a special counsel investigation during his first term in office.

Though that investigation found evidence of "extensive criminal activity" by Trump, his associates, and some of his family members, it found no evidence that he was working for, or had ever been recruited by, Russia's security services.

Yet despite this, the topic refuses to go away — most recently in a viral Facebook postfrom a former Kazakh security official that claimed Trump was recruited by the Soviet Union's spy agency, the KGB, in 1987 and given the code name "Krasnov."

Craig Unger, an American journalist and writer who has written two books on Trump’s connections to Russia’s security services and the Russian mafia stretching all the way back to the 1980s, says he is "absolutely certain" that the U.S. president is a Russian asset.

According to Unger, Trump’s current actions are benefiting Russian President Vladimir Putin, and destroying relationships with long-time allies.

The Kyiv Independent sat down with Unger to hear what makes him so certain.

The Kyiv Independent: A lot of the discussion around Trump and his connections to Russia gets dismissed as conspiracy theories based on circumstantial evidence. What would you say to those accusations?

Craig Unger: First of all, I want to distinguish between an asset and an agent. An agent is someone who has signed on with the KGB, can be given specific tasks, and is actually paid by them.

That's not the way it works with an asset. The KGB made a point of cultivating powerful businessmen — I'm thinking of Armand Hammer. He was an enormously wealthy American oil man, who was very much an asset. And he was sort of ageing out when the KGB began cultivating Trump.

The Kyiv Independent: How certain are you that Donald Trump is a Russian asset?

Craig Unger: Completely certain. I've written two books about it. “House of Trump, House of Putin,” and “American Kompromat,” and not a single fact has been challenged in my reporting.

It really goes back to 1980 when Donald Trump was just starting out and had his first successful real estate adventure.

He's had a lot of failures. This one was actually a success — he developed the Grand Hyatt Hotel right near Grand Central Station here in New York.

And like every big hotel, he needed a lot of TV sets. And he ended up buying them from the Joy Lud electronics store, which was a front for the KGB. And I got that information from a former agent with the KGB, Yuri Shvets.

And it really all started from that. They sent out a spotter agent, someone who's trying to recruit talent for someone who can help the KGB later on — and they came to Donald Trump.And that set off a series of meetings and events, which led to Trump's first visit to Moscow in 1987.

The Kyiv Independent: If you had to pick three things that are the biggest pieces of evidence that Trump was, or is a Russian asset, what would you choose?

Craig Unger: In 1984, a man named David Bogatin came to Trump Tower, which is a crown jewel among Trump's buildings, and put down $6 million on the table and bought five condos. What was interesting about that was that according to FBI files, Bogatin was a member of the Russian mafia.

And this was the first of many such people who are affiliated with the Russian mafia — I found a total of 13 people — who lived in Trump Tower or other Trump buildings.

Trump was hosting the Russian mafia for many years before he even ran for president. So that's one thing.

Trump was hosting the Russian mafia for many years before he even ran for president. 

Another is when he went to Moscow in 1987.  This was a visit that was set up by the KGB, according to Shvets. And when Trump got there, he was sort of groomed by the KGB.

He came back and a lot of people have forgotten this, but he made a brief abortive run for president in 1988.

He also took out a full page ad in The New York Times (NYT), that was assailing America's alliance with NATO.

People are shocked today that Trump is betraying Ukraine, he's betraying Europe, he's siding with Putin. Well, he did it as early as 1987, when he was starting to run for the presidency in 1988. And that is very well documented, it was printed in the NYT.

It's exactly the foreign policy he is acting out today that is so horrifying. This is the end of NATO, it's the end of the Western alliance. Trump is allying with Vladimir Putin, and against Ukraine and all of Western Europe.

The Kyiv Independent: What has happened more recently to make you believe Trump is a Russian asset?

Craig Unger: You saw him during his first term as president when he met with Putin in Helsinki — he essentially said that he trusted Putin far more than American intelligence (agencies).

And what we see happening now is, he is essentially destroying Western intelligence. I can't imagine Ukraine or any European partners wanting to share intelligence with the U.S., as long as Trump is president, because it's likely to be passed straight along to Vladimir Putin.

The Kyiv Independent: Just last week there was a Facebook post from somebody who professes to have been part of the KGB in Kazakhstan during the 1980s and he said Trump was recruited then.

Craig Unger: Yes, I'm aware of that post, I have not been able to corroborate it. If I'm not mistaken, he was talking about the sixth directorate in the KGB. I'm not sure they were recruiting American assets.

And the first director and the second director of the KGB were doing that mostly. So I really can't corroborate it.

The Kyiv Independent: As an American citizen, how does all of this make you feel?

Craig Unger: I'm petrified, to be honest. When I grew up, the movie that I loved in my childhood was “The Manchurian Candidate,” the original, 1962 version. It posited that the communists had gotten inside the White House. And that was the whole premise. And it was seen as incredibly conspiratorial.

The idea that it could actually happen in some way is just breathtaking. And I think we're entering a new era in the U.S. And we have to fight back.

Because I would very much like to keep an alliance with my friends in Europe.

https://kyivindependent.com/is-donald-trump-a-russian-asset-this-us-author-is-completely-certain-he-is/

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April 25, 2020 14:53 CET
By Christopher Miller

Zelenskiy's First Year: He Promised Sweeping Changes. How's He Doing?

 

Ending The War

When he was sworn in as president in May 2019, Zelenskiy also inherited the role of supreme commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces and a grinding war against Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in what is known as the Donbas. More than 13,000 people have been killed since fighting began in April 2014.

....

 

In the anniversary video, Zelenskiy says he is "sure that we will put an end to this war during my presidential term" and that if his current tactics don't yield results, he will change them.

 

Crushing Corruption

On Ukrainians' wish lists, second to ending the war has been seeing corruption stamped out, polls show. When Zelenskiy was elected, he promised "victory over corruption" -- a goal that he said would be challenging but judged to be possible after becoming the first president to win a parliamentary majority, in July.

Ukraine has struggled against entrenched corruption, which has drained the country's coffers since its independence drive helped lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. As part of this fight, Zelenskiy vowed to conduct a sweeping "de-oligarchization" of the country.

But a year later, critics say neither has happened -- or at least not to the extent promised.

"Zelenskiy was expected to oversee quick and massive arrests of corrupt officials and politicians, as well as well-known businessmen," Fesenko says. "But Ukrainian law enforcement and the judicial system has been very slow and not effective enough."

"The lack of significant results in the fight against corruption has caused great dissatisfaction [among Ukrainians]," he adds.

Critics point to the firing of Ruslan Ryaboshapka, the first prosecutor-general under Zelenskiy, as one major point of concern. Ryaboshapka, who was viewed by many as an independent-minded reformist, was fired in early March and replaced by Iryna Venediktova, a close Zelenskiy ally who worked on his campaign.

https://www.rferl.org/a/zelenskiys-first-year-he-promised-sweeping-changes-how-s-he-doing-/30576329.html

 

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Ukraine’s leader stood on platform of peace, but finds himself on brink of war
This article is more than 3 years old
Luke Harding
in Kyiv

When Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought to become Ukraine’s president he stood on a platform of peace. Zelenskiy promised to sit down with Vladimir Putin and to reach a deal with Russia. He would end the unpopular war in the east and concentrate on important domestic reforms. These included ridding the country of corruption and oligarchs.

The plan didn’t work out. Nearly three years after winning a landslide victory, Zelenskiy is a president on the brink of war. About 190,000 Russian troops are poised on Ukraine’s borders. The US president, Joe Biden, has warned of an attack on Kyiv. A Kremlin military offensive – whether full-scale or more limited in scope – seems likely, possibly within hours or days.

This existential crisis for Ukraine has brought Zelenskiy global attention. Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz are among European leaders who have visited Kyiv and expressed support for its pro-western government. On Saturday Zelenskiy met the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, and Johnson at the Munich security conference, where Ukraine’s fate was discussed, and from which Russia was glaringly absent.

But critics fear that by refusing to make concessions to Moscow, Zelenskiy is steering his country towards disaster. They argue he needs to find a pragmatic solution to the dangerous standoff with Putin – ruling out Nato membership for Ukraine, at least for now – a key Russian demand. The US and its allies would go along with such a declaration, privately breathing a sigh of relief, they argue.

“The Russians will keep on until Zelenskiy gets the message,” Vasyl Filipchuk, a former senior Ukrainian diplomat and foreign affairs spokesperson said. “They want him to stop what they see as anti-Russian rhetoric. A statement on Nato would calm the situation down. Moscow and Nato would be happy. A few in Ukraine’s establishment would be displeased.”

Filipchuk said he was increasingly concerned about the likelihood of a Russian attack, having discounted the threat up until last week. Since Thursday there has been intense artillery bombardment from separatist positions. Several allegedly false-flag events – a car bomb in Donetsk, a shell landing on Russian territory – have fuelled fears that a Russian offensive is inevitable.

“The risks of direct military fire are there. It’s thinkable. I put the chances of a fully fledged war in the Donbas at 30%,” Filipchuk said. “Zelenskiy has had a very bad crisis. He doesn’t understand the depth of the problem. He’s badly advised. And he’s afraid.”

The president’s refusal to compromise over Nato is based on his fear of unpopularity, observers suggest. They believe he is terrified of a backlash from supporters of Petro Poroshenko – Zelenskiy’s ambitious, hawkish predecessor – and rightwing nationalists. In recent months, Zelenskiy’s once high ratings have fallen, while his Servant of the People party has found itself mired in scandal.

“Winston Churchill promised nothing but blood, sweat and tears. I’m afraid Mr Zelenskiy is not capable of that,” Evgeniy Kiselyov, a leading journalist and talkshow host, said. “A real politician is one who can speak at a moment of national emergency.” The president “lagged behind events” and was “too much” shaped by his previous career as a celebrity actor, Kiselyov suggested

In public, western governments have expressed solidarity with Zelenskiy, who received a standing ovation in Munich. The US, UK and Lithuanians have sent anti-tank weapons and defensive arms. Washington and London have cast Ukraine’s struggle with Russia as a civilisational fight between democracy and authoritarianism. At stake is a sovereign country’s right to make its own security choices and alliances, versus an outdated imperial model of spheres of influence, they recognise.

But behind the scenes, there has been exasperation with Zelenskiy too. He has irked his allies, especially the Americans, by dismissing predictions of Russian invasion as panic-mongering and media hysteria. These scenarios have damaged Ukraine’s economy, devalued its currency and undermined business confidence, he has publicly complained in recent weeks.

Zelenskiy has also faulted the US for closing down its embassy in Kyiv and relocating diplomatic personnel, including CIA officers, to the western city of Lviv. “We do not have a Titanic situation here,” he told the Guardian earlier this month. He pointed out that Ukraine has already been at war for eight years, ever since Putin annexed Crimea and organised a pro-Russia uprising in the Donbas region.

“I don’t think it is a good strategy. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” Kiselyov said, of Zelenskiy’s US critique. “Some key members of his team are so much afraid of Putin and unprepared psychologically. They don’t know what to do if he strikes.” Would Putin invade? “Difficult to say. I think he is a madman. I don’t think he lives in the real world,” Kiselyov replied.

Kiselyov said Zelenskiy might have been shrewder in his dealings with the White House, grumbling only in private rather than airing his grievances. “He could have said: ‘I will support you. But give me something in return such as a couple of bucks to help the economy.’ Instead, Zelenskiy is seen whining,” he said.

Zelenskiy’s party colleagues, however, say the president is doing a good job in difficult circumstances. They point out he remains Ukraine’s most popular politician, according to polls. He has a good chance of winning reelection in 2024 – assuming, that is, Moscow does not remove him by force. His party, Servant of the People, is faring less well. It looks certain next year to lose its majority in Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

“The president stays strong and calm,” Nikita Poturaev, a deputy in Zelensiky’s party and political consultant, said, speaking from his parliamentary office in Kyiv, across the road from Zelenskiy’s palace residence.

Zelenskiy enjoyed meeting world leaders and was quick to build relationships with them, Poturaev added. He said Zelenskiy was not personally corrupt, unlike previous holders of the job. They include Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine’s pro-Russia leader, who looted the state budget before fleeing to Moscow in 2014, after his security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing 100 of them.

Perhaps the greatest criticism of Zelenskiy is that he has failed to prepare his citizens for a bloody war. Ukraine’s army is in better shape than in 2014, when it suffered a series of humiliating defeats. Thus far, Zelenskiy has declined to hand out weapons to civilians, possibly fearing that they might be used to overthrow his administration. Instead, volunteers have organised training and national defence.

Serhiy Leshchenko, a former MP and prominent journalist, said Zelenskiy had withstood pressure from Moscow to implement the “toxic” Minsk accords, signed in 2015 at a moment of Ukrainian military weakness. Under the deal, Kyiv would grant autonomy to the separatist regions – in effect handing Moscow a veto over foreign policy – in return for demilitarisation.

“Zelenskiy didn’t betray Ukraine or give Putin what he wants,” Leshchenko said. “It’s just possible if he survives this crisis he can regain his political credibility.”

“I think the threat is great. I’m more with our allies than the Zelenskiy side,” Olexiy Haran, a professor of comparative politics at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, said. He cited a recent poll by the Kyiv international institute for sociology which indicated half of Ukrainians thought Zelenskiy should have done more to get ready for a conflict with Russia.

Haran added: “The rhetoric coming from Moscow is very dangerous. Putin has increased stress so high. It is difficult to see how he can back down now.”

 This article was amended on 20 February 2022 because an earlier version referred to the Servant of the People party looking “certain next year to lose its Duma majority”. The intended reference was to the Ukraine parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/20/ukraines-leader-stood-on-platform-of-peace-but-finds-himself-on-brink-war

 

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‘Traitor to Jews’ – Lavrov attacks Zelensky as ‘pure Nazi’ amid Trump tensions

The Russian Foreign Minister reiterated his country’s claim that it invaded Ukraine in order to ‘de-nazify’ it

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, a “pure Nazi” and a “traitor to the Jewish people”.

Lavrov made the remarks, which are in line with Moscow's propaganda about Ukraine in recent years, during an interview published in Krasnaya Zvezda, the official publication of the Russian Ministry of Defence.

“Zelensky has turned 180 degrees from a man who came to power on slogans of peace, on slogans of ‘Leave us alone with the Russian language, it is our common language, our common culture’ (all this is on the internet) and in six months has turned into a pure Nazi and, as Russian President [Vladimir] Putin correctly said, into a traitor to the Jewish people,” Lavrov said.

https://www.thejc.com/news/world/traitor-jews-lavrov-zelensky-nazi-trump-tensions-ifonrp17

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.