Ukraine Foreign Minister: U.S. Aid, Investigations Were ‘Never’ Linked

Ukrainian foreign minister Vadym Prystaiko said Thursday that U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland had “never” linked U.S. aid to Ukrainian investigations of the 2016 elections or the Biden’s role in stopping a probe of Burisma.

Prystaiko spoke the day after the first public hearings in the House Intelligence Committee as part of the “impeachment inquiry,” where two witnesses said they came to believe there had been such a link — though only some time after Politico reported on August 28 that aid had been held up by the Trump administration.

One of the witnesses, Chargé d’affaires Bill Taylor, introduced new evidence that a staffer told him recently that he overheard Sondland speaking to President Donald Trump the day after his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, discussing “investigations.” The staffer also told Taylor that Sondland said that Trump was more interested in investigations than anything else.

As Breitbart News’ Kristina Wong noted, that new evidence — which is fourth-hand hearsay, plus opinion — added little new information, but was cited by Democrats and journalists as evidence that aid might have been linked to investigations Trump had asked the new Ukrainian government to pursue.

Tlaib moves to block ICE airport arrests, says TSA helping target immigrants

Israel strikes Hezbollah in Lebanon as Rome peace talks continue

Exclusive: Grieving mom reveals deadly cost of illegal immigration as daughter’s killer seeks parole

‘Oxferd Comma’ investigation being declassified by White House, with John Solomon briefing

Putin selects commander to lead new drone warfare branch of Russian military

Trump Declares El-Sayed’s Michigan Win ‘Great News for the Republican Party’

Republican who reportedly dropped out defeats Trump’s pick in key swing-district primary

Republicans move to oust embattled Florida GOP lawmaker in bitter primary fight

Musk Issues Stark Counter-Threat After Mamdani Team Member Declared Him ‘Valid Military Target’ According to Report

House Republican Ends Re-Election Campaign After Ethics Committee Recommends Censure

SpaceX Rocket Collides with Moon at 5,400 MPH

Details on Heavily Armed Person Roaming Golf Course Before Trump Visit Emerge, Notebook Seized

Disturbing: Gossip Columnist Perez Hilton Hospitalized After Harming Self on TikTok Live Stream

Takeaways from crucial primary elections across the country and more top headlines

Suspects in deadly Connecticut home invasion arrested in attack that rocked beach town

On Thursday, Prystaiko said that there had been no link in discussions at the time with Sondland, as Reuters reported:

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on Thursday that U.S. ambassador Gordon Sondland did not explicitly link military aid to Kiev with opening an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Interfax Ukraine reported.

…

“Ambassador Sondland did not tell us, and certainly did not tell me, about a connection between the assistance and the investigations. You should ask him,” Prystaiko said about Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.

…

“I have never seen a direct relationship between investigations and security assistance,” Prystaiko was quoted as saying by Interfax. “Yes, the investigations were mentioned, you know, in the conversation of the presidents. But there was no clear connection between these events.”