Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday announced something his American counterpart likely would never consider.
Zelenskyy fired a “slew” of high-level officials in his government, as Reuters put it, over potential corruption and malfeasance.
Much of Zelenskyy’s purge of a dozen senior officials came after the arrest of one top leader on charges that he stole $400,000 that was intended to buy generators.
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“Any internal problems that interfere with the state are being cleaned up and will be cleaned up. This is only fair, it is necessary for our protection, and it helps our rapprochement with the European institutions,” Zelenskyy said.
Yet U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz is unconvinced.
Gaetz, a Florida Republican and one of the fiercest critics of America’s involvement in the Ukrainian war with Russia, told Fox News he’s not budging on his opposition to sending more U.S. aid to Ukraine.
“There is no amount of ‘purges’ that will suddenly make me support giving money to Ukraine,” Gaetz told Fox News in a statement Tuesday.
“Ukraine has been corrupt for decades. It was named ‘the most corrupt nation in Europe’ in 2015. We don’t even give money to American agencies without oversight, so why would we do the same with Ukraine?”
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Gaetz added, “Our laws require close end-to-end monitoring of military equipment sent into a conflict zone. I’m deeply concerned that we are not following these laws and are instead trusting the assertions of Ukrainians — the likes of which were fired today.”
On Twitter on Tuesday, Gaetz commented, “We are now funding Ukraine’s government and our own. Why should Ukraine’s get LESS oversight?!?”
Gaetz has repeatedly rejected the idea of the U.S. continuing to fund Ukraine’s war effort.
He was among 57 House Republicans who voted against the Biden administration’s $40 billion military aid package in May. He has warned that America’s continued involvement could eventually suck the U.S. into the conflict, saying just last week that could lead to “World War III.”
Back in December, after he was criticized by leftists for refusing to stand for applause lines when Zelenskyy spoke to Congress, Gaetz declared, “I’m not pro-Russia. I’ve even been personally sanctioned by Putin. I’m pro-America. Bathing historically corrupt countries in US weapons and cash typically doesn’t go well for America. (See Afghanistan).”
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