Why Is Pompeo Going To Ukraine? Secretary Of State To Affirm US - Ukraine Ties

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a key administration official who declined to testify during the House investigation into whether President Trump tried to strongarm Kyiv into doing his political bidding, kicks off the new year with a trip to Ukraine.

Pompeo is scheduled on Friday to travel to the former Soviet republic, which is fighting Russia-backed separatists in its East, to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the wake of the House vote to impeach Trump for withholding $391 million in military aid to the country in a bid to get Zelensky to agree to conduct an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden.

Pompeo, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Ukraine since Trump’s July 25 phone call with Zelensky, also is expected to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko, and Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodnyuk.

“The secretary will also attend a wreath laying ceremony at St. Michael’s to honor those who have fallen in the Donbass, and meet with religious, civil society and business community leaders to discuss human rights issues, the investment climate, and the government’s reform agenda,” the State Department said in a press release. The trip is to “underscore the U.S. commitment to a sovereign, independent, stable, and prosperous Belarus, and affirm our desire to normalize relations to move our bilateral relationship forward.”

The visit comes as the U.S. Senate prepares to hold a trial on two articles of impeachment approved by the House, accusing Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. During the House impeachment inquiry, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland testified Pompeo was among those “in the loop” about efforts, spearheaded by Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, to remove career diplomat Marie Yovanovich as ambassador to Ukraine, and there are questions over how much support Pompeo gave Giuliani’s machinations regarding Yovanovich and the push for the Biden investigation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has yet to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell already has said there’s “no chance” Trump will be convicted and removed from office, and that he is coordinating strategy with the White House.

Comedian-turned-politician Zelensky, who became president in April, has said he did not feel pressured by Trump but also said the delay in military aid violated a bilateral agreement.

Pompeo’s trip follows one by Giuliani earlier this month during which he again pressed for information that could benefit Trump during the reelection campaign.

Pompeo met earlier this month with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Washington and said he made clear to Lavrov that the Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, belongs to Ukraine. He also said the U.S. supports a diplomatic solution to the conflict with the separatists in eastern Ukraine.

From Ukraine, Pompeo also plans to travel to Minsk, Belarus; Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan; Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Nicosia, Cyprus.