Reports: Trump Mulling Suspension Of Military Aid To Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump is considering blocking $250 million in military aid to Ukraine, Western media report.

Citing senior administration officials, Politico and Reuters reported that Trump had ordered a reassessment of the aid program that Kyiv uses to battle Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The review is “ensure the money is being used in the best interest of the United States,” Politico said on August 28, and means Trump is considering blocking the funding.

“The president has made no secret when it comes to foreign assistance that U.S. interests abroad should be prioritized and other foreign countries should also be paying their fair share," Reuters quoted one official as saying on August 29.

The White House did not immediately comment on the reports.

The officials said chances are that the money will be allocated as usual but that the determination will not be made until the review is completed and Trump makes a final decision.

The federal fiscal year ends on September 30.

The United States has supported Ukraine since Russia forcibly annexed its Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and started backing separatists in Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in April 2014 in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people.

Washington has given Ukraine more than $3 billion in aid, including $1.5 billion in lethal and nonlethal military goods over the past five years, and is advising the country on the reform of its armed forces.

Based on reporting by Politico, CNN, Reuters, and Interfax

That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for August 29, 2019. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.

Good morning. Our news desk posted a couple Ukraine stories overnight, so we'll get the live blog rolling with those. First, we'll start with an update on the the situation surrounding a prisoner swap, which many have been saying is imminent:

Ukraine Denies Prisoner Swap With Russia Completed, Says Negotiations Ongoing

Ukraine says negotiations to exchange prisoners with Russia are still under way after earlier unconfirmed reports said the swap had already been completed.

The Facebook post by the spokeswoman of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on August 30 comes after relatives of one of the 24 sailors being held by Russia told RFE/RL's Crimean Desk that they all had been freed.

Those remarks came after Ukraine's prosecutor-general reposted comments from a Ukrainian parliament member saying Ukraine and Russia had carried out a swap of prisoners, including Ukrainian sailors captured by Russian forces last year and Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov.

Anticipation had been growing for such a swap after Russian media reported on August 29 that Sentsov -- whose imprisonment has been criticized by Kyiv, Western governments, and human rights groups -- had been moved from a remote prison in Russia’s Arctic region to a facility in Moscow.

Sentsov has been imprisoned in Russia since opposing Moscow's takeover of his native Crimea in March 2014.

The Kommersant newspaper cited sources close to Zelenskiy as saying that the exchange could take place by the end of August and that the Ukrainians set to be transferred to Kyiv could include at least some of the 24 Ukrainian sailors detained by Russian forces in November near the Kerch Strait close to Russia-annexed Crimea.

Kyiv has said that Russia illegally holds about 150 Ukrainian nationals on its territory. Ukrainian officials mentioned that figure when talking about the list of prisoners prepared for possible exchange by the two countries' ombudswomen in July.

The list of Russian citizens set for the swap has never been made public.

Reports about Sentsov’s transfer to Moscow come a day after a court in Ukraine ordered jailed Russian journalist Kirill Vyshinsky to be freed on his own recognizance and released from custody before his trial on treason charges.

Based on reporting by Reuters, Pravda-Ukraine, and the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

And also this:

Ukraine's Zelenskiy Inducts Politically Untested Government

KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his ruling political party have formed the youngest and least-experienced government in Ukraine’s post-independence history.

With participants averaging just under 40 years old, the new government announced on August 29 comprises 12 men and six women who are some of the president’s friends, former business partners or associates, and technocrats, civil society activists, and two holdovers from the previous administration.

Oleksiy Honcharuk, 35, became the nation’s youngest prime minister, beating the previous record held by his predecessor, Volodymyr Hroysman.

Zelenskiy, a comedian-turned-politician who has pledged to "break the system" in Ukrainian politics, is Ukraine’s youngest president at 41.

Lawmakers easily approved Honcharuk with 290 deputies in the 450-seat house voting in favor of his appointment.

He has spent much of his career as a lawyer, eventually becoming a lead partner at a firm that specializes in real estate development. In 2015, he ran the EU-funded nongovernmental organization BRDO that focused on reforms and advised Stepan Kubiv, the first deputy prime minister during ex-President Petro Poroshenko’s administration.

"It will be very difficult for this government," he said in a speech to parliament.

Honcharuk said Kyiv will start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a new program in the coming weeks, signaling that Ukraine is seeking a new longer-term deal to replace an existing $3.9 billion standby aid agreement.

"You all know about these problems that we have in the country. These are the debts we have inherited," he added.

Other appointments included former NATO Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko, 49, as foreign minister. Before his confirmation, Prystaiko told parliament that Ukraine’s path toward EU and NATO integration would remain unchanged.

The deputy head of the president's office, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, was confirmed as prosecutor-general. He was a mid-level official of the Justice Ministry in 2001-10 before joining former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov’s cabinet until he moved to corruption watchdog Transparency International in 2013-2014.

Andriy Zahorodniuk, 44, is the new defense minister. Previously, he sat on the supervisory board of the state-owned military concern Ukroboronprom. When the Donbas conflict started in eastern Ukraine, he volunteered to help the armed forces in 2015-17, eventually making it to the Defense Ministry’s reform office.

Zelenskiy’s former business partner, 45-year-old Ivan Bakanov, was appointed head of the SBU security service. The chairman of the Servant of the People party, Dmytro Razumkov, was chosen as parliamentary speaker.

At age 28, Mykhailo Federov is deputy prime minister for digital transformation. His digital service company once boasted Zelenskiy’s Kvartal Concert entertainment firm as a client and the IT guru headed the president's social media outreach during the presidential campaign.

Dmytro Kuleba, 38, is deputy prime minister for European and Euroatlantic Integration and the former ambassador to the Council of Europe.

Minister of Education Hanna Novosad is aged 29 and headed the ministry's strategic planning and European integration directorate, an in-house think tank.

Keeping their posts are Arsen Avakov, 55, as interior minister and Finance Minister Oksana Markarova, aged 42.

Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People party took a solid majority of 254 parliamentary seats in last month’s elections for the 450-seat legislature.

That unprecedented mandate is expected to give Zelenskiy a free hand to carry out his campaign pledge in April to turn Ukraine's political system upside down.

In his state-of-the-nation address before lawmakers, Zelenskiy noted that this legislature has the chance "to achieve the impossible" and accomplish what previous parliaments failed do in the last 28 years.

He named bolstering national security and defense as the highest priority, along with "ending the war" against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, and "returning" the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine’s fold.

Russia forcibly annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in March 2014 and has backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.

Zelenskiy also said he wants to end the practice of "raiding," a reference to company takeovers enabled by crooked notaries and judges, resulting in transfers in the ownership of assets. Another priority is achieving energy independence.

The president called on lawmakers not to fight in the chamber, skip sessions, or engage in multiple voting. Otherwise "this parliament will last only a year," Zelenskiy said.

Among the 37 draft laws that the president and his party registered on August 29, one would lift lawmakers' immunity from prosecution. Because it’s a constitutional amendment, the bill requires a two-thirds majority vote that Servant of the People lacks.

Abolishing immunity has for Ukrainians consistently been one of the most desired anti-corruption measures, according to public opinion polls.

Zelenskiy also registered a bill on corruption whistle-blowers and presidential impeachment.

With reporting by Interfax, 112 Ukraine, Ukrayinska Pravda, and the Kyiv Post