With Weapons Deal on the Line, Ukrainian MP Admits Government Ended Cooperation With Mueller Probe to Keep Trump Happy

New reporting by the New York Times on Wednesday strongly suggests that the government of Ukraine has ended its cooperation with the ongoing probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into alleged interference in the 2016 elections due to concerns that further involvement with the investigation could potentially imperil a weapons deal it wants the Trump administration to approve.

The Times reporting centers around multiple investigations by the Ukrainians focused on dealings inside the country by former top Trump aide Paul Manafort, now under indictment in the U.S. for money laundering and other schemes. Manafort, of course, has featured prominently in the Mueller probe.

According to the newspaper:

Ukraine MP Volodymyr Ariev—described as an ally of President Petro O. Poroshenko, opendly admitted the government’s intention was to put investigations what he described as “the long-term box.” 

“In every possible way, we will avoid irritating the top American officials,” Ariev told the Times. “We shouldn’t spoil relations with the administration.”

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The reporting also notes that Ukrainian law enforcement may also have dinged the Mueller probe in other ways, including by allowing “a potential witness to possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to leave for Russia, putting him out of reach for questioning.”