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Ukraine Plays for Time Amid Trump’s Clamor to Investigate Bidens

Ukraine Plays for Time Amid Trump’s Clamor to Investigate Bidens

(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine’s in no rush to reopen probes of a company where former Vice President Joe Biden’s son sat on the board.

The former Soviet republic has found itself at the center of a controversy that’s prompted impeachment hearings into Donald Trump. In question is whether the U.S. leader sought to make military aid conditional on Ukraine investigating his political rival, whose son used to do business there.

On Friday, the country’s top prosecutor remained staunchly on the fence. Important cases opened before he was appointed just weeks ago will be reviewed, he said, without indicating how long the process will take or where it will lead.

His stance is understandable. Ukraine relies on the U.S. for financial, political and military support as it rebuilds its economy and remains embroiled in a conflict with Russia that erupted after Russia swiped Crimea in 2014.

What’s more, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s predecessor got burned by backing Hillary Clinton, rather than Trump, in the U.S.’s 2016 presidential race.

The prosecutor’s remarks Friday are “an attempt to find a flexible balance of interests,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta research institute in Kyiv. “On one side, it demonstrates for Trump and his team that they haven’t forgotten the investigations and will consider the cases. On the other, it’s a signal to Democrats that they’re not hurrying.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Volodymyr Verbyany in Kiev at vverbyany1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Andrew Langley, Andras Gergely

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