The dispute is at the center of the impeachment inquiry raging in Washington. President Trump is responding to questions about a call he had with Ukraine's president by trying to push the spotlight onto former Vice President Joe … America’s safety net, whittled down for half a century, would be revived under Biden’s plan. Obama essentially outsourced the portfolio to his vice president — a task, by most accounts, Biden enthusiastically embraced. Donald Trump and his allies accused Joe Biden of wrongdoing because he had pushed, while vice-president, for the Ukrainian government to fire its top prosecutor, who was investigating the company for which Hunter worked. Biden marks momentous 100 days by challenging Congress to take further bold actions. The latest news, analysis and insights from our politics teams from Sacramento to D.C. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. The tactic has lately been used by supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump, who stands accused of pressuring Ukrainian officials to investigate Democratic primary candidate Joe … After Russian troops seized and occupied the Crimean peninsula in the spring of 2014 — the first post-Cold War territorial takeover by Moscow — Ukraine rose to the top of the Obama administration agenda. What did Biden’s son do in Ukraine? Western diplomats saw Shokin, who still sometimes wore his old Soviet-style uniform, as a relic of a stultified system and a “pay-to-play” prosecutor. When do I still need to wear a mask and when can I go without? Ukraine drama: President Trump acknowledged that he discussed former Vice President Joe Biden in a July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr … See details. As vice president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., left, met in 2015 with Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president at the time. Pool photo by Mikhail Palinchak By Glenn Thrush and Kenneth P. … “My actions as General Prosecutor did not suit the interests of the U.S. Vice President Biden and the persons connected to him,” Shokin said in an affidavit filed Sept. 4 in an Austrian court on a separate case. “You’re fighting both against the cancer of corruption, which continues to eat away at Ukraine’s democracy within, and the unrelenting aggression of the Kremlin,” he told local leaders, politicians and parliamentarians in Kyiv, the capital. He said Biden was motivated by his son’s connection to Burisma but offered no evidence. Shokin, who declined to be interviewed for this story, blames his ouster on an illegal foreign intervention in Ukraine’s domestic affairs. Volodymyr Zelensky, (born January 25, 1978, Kryvyy Rih, Ukraine, U.S.S.R. [now in Ukraine]), Ukrainian actor and comedian who was elected president of Ukraine in 2019. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. “The important thing is that the support that Biden represented was bipartisan.”. The policy is fueling border kidnappings and extortion of U.S. relatives. While former Vice President Joe Biden oversaw foreign policy in Ukraine, his son Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings, the largest gas company in the fledgling democracy. “And then you’d be screwed and left at the mercy of Moscow,” a former aide recalled Biden telling the men. Senate Democrats are expected to vote Wednesday to reverse a Trump-era Environmental Protection Agency rule that limits regulation of methane. Former aides described Biden’s work after that as a kind of “marriage counseling,” getting the newly elected president, Petro Poroshenko, to cooperate with the prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a political rival. Known for his bluntness, Biden warned them that Ukraine could not be seen as a “basket case” or allies would lose patience. Biden “was like the big brother coming to tell the little brother what to do — a recommendation that you can’t ignore,” Bereza said. “He was front and center.”. Ambassador. Current and former U.S. and Ukrainian officials say Burisma had been under scrutiny for alleged improper acquisition of licenses, a probe unrelated to Hunter Biden’s position on the board. A guide to staying safe, When do I still need to wear a mask and when can I go without? Trump has now turned that on its head, arguing that it was Biden and his son, Hunter, who were corrupt — although no evidence has emerged to indicate that. Four days before President Trump was inaugurated in January 2017, the outgoing vice president, Joe Biden, was in Ukraine — his sixth visit in seven years — to deliver a … Ukrainian officials say the inquiry into alleged improprieties at Burisma has never been completely closed. In the eight days before Shokin was fired in March 2016, Biden phoned Poroshenko four times to reiterate the U.S. position, former aides said. How a photo and a Long Beach book drive led to a false story and attacks on Kamala Harris. Trump says he acted appropriately to root out corruption, wherever it appears. Biden and his staff rewrote the speech, removing the loan guarantees. During the Arab Spring, he oversaw U.S. assistance and support to Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria. The prime minister of Ukraine is Ukraine's head of government, presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the Ukrainian government. It’s common in Eastern Europe, and much of the world, to hire a celebrity or relative of a senior official to burnish a company’s image, and to help shield it from official or unofficial shakedowns. House Democrats say Trump abused his office when he pressed Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden and, thus, interfere in an American political campaign. Feds execute warrant at Rudolph Giuliani’s New York home, source says. Column: Biden’s American Families Plan would make the social safety net a reality. L.A.’s remarkable achievement: Rapid economic reopening as COVID-19 fades fast. The investigation went dormant, they said, before Biden and a group of U.S. allies pushed for Shokin’s ouster in 2015, arguing he was turning a blind eye to corruption. Kyiv, Ukraine . A closer look at Biden’s $1.8-trillion plan for families and education. 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