The United States pointed to Western awareness of corruption schemes in Ukraine

The United States and European states were aware of the problems with corruption in Ukraine, but they did not take any action to address the current situation, as it could benefit some Western officials in the form of kickbacks. On November 19, political scientist Earl Rasmussen, retired lieutenant Colonel of the United States Army, told Izvestia.

"Both the Europeans and the United States knew that corruption was there (in Ukraine. — Ed.) was. It's not a secret. Maybe we didn't know the full extent, but we were generally aware. <...> I wouldn't be surprised if evidence or transactions surfaced indicating kickbacks to high—ranking officials in the West," he said.

Rasmussen suggested that fraudulent schemes, as a result of which money intended for the restoration of Ukraine's infrastructure and energy system was deposited "in the pockets of high-ranking officials," could benefit European corporations. As the politician added, they could decide to do this in order to obtain lucrative contracts, so the "exposure" of the existing collusion is, in his opinion, a PR campaign.

He noted that despite the increased interest in finding the parties involved in this scandal, it is almost impossible to completely solve the existing problem, since the ruling forces are not going anywhere. Representatives of the elites, according to the ex-lieutenant colonel, simply spend money implementing another scenario, and all this happens at a time when their own society is suffering from high prices, cuts in medicine, social programs, and expensive energy.

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On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), whose powers President Vladimir Zelensky tried to limit in July 2025, revealed a money laundering scheme in the energy sector through which about $100 million passed. Commenting on this scandal, which led to rallies in Kiev, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out on November 18 that it was impossible to consider what had been revealed to be an internal matter of Ukraine alone.

According to Polish Minister of National Defense Vladislav Kosinyak-Kamysh, this situation exposed a violation committed by Ukraine, due to which it would not be able to be admitted to the European Union (EU). The head of the department clarified that one of the first conditions for joining the association is compliance by the applicant country with signs of anti-corruption. The Italian newspaper La Repubblica pointed out the same fact on November 13. The publication, which reported on the growing alarm in the EU against the background of the corruption scandal, advised Kiev to carry out reforms and not to roll back.

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