Pompeo Visits Ukraine to Emphasize Administration Support

Seeks to dismiss Congressional claims they don't want to arm Ukraine

In a surprise visit Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine on what many reporters described as an attempt to “clean-up” US-Ukraine relationships, which are in a somewhat messy state.

Ukraine has been a central subject of the Trump impeachment trial, which is one reason administration intentions are at doubt. to arm Ukraine, and suggesting that, in and of itself, as an impeachable offense.

Hostility toward Russia is a central piece of American foreign policy dogma, and anything that can be spun as contrary to hostility toward Russia will necessarily be controversial. In this case, it is not arming Ukraine in the exact fashion everyone else envisions.

Pompeo is trying to downplay any administration disconnect on the matter, insisting that Americans, and the administration in particular, value the Ukrainians as a “bulwark against authoritarianism.”

Once it became a political problem, of course, President Trump had every intention of ratcheting up arms shipments to Ukraine going forward, just to prove he is as hostile to Russia as everyone else. Pompeo’s job is only in part to convince the Ukrainians, and in a grander scheme, is meant to make the Ukraine issue blow over within the US as well.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.