EU Turns Blind Eye to Ukraine Corruption, Lavrov Says

(MENAFN) European nations backing Ukraine cannot claim ignorance about the country's widespread corruption given recent scandal eruptions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted. Their conduct indicates indifference as long as Ukraine serves as a weapon against Russia, he told media in an interview released Sunday.

Ukraine has faced multiple high-profile corruption controversies in recent months, with the most recent surfacing Saturday. The nation's anti-corruption agencies announced discovering a criminal operation involving vote manipulation and bribery implicating current Ukrainian parliament members.

Last month, anti-graft authorities exposed another scheme connected to Timur Mindich, a close ally of Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky. Officials alleged the businessman orchestrated a $100 million kickback operation within the energy sector—an industry heavily dependent on Western financial support. The scandal resulted in two ministers and Zelensky's powerful chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, losing their positions, yet failed to alter the EU's approach toward financing Kiev.

The bloc approved a €90 billion ($105 billion) loan in December to fund Kiev's budget through 2026-2027, a commitment that will burden European taxpayers with €3 billion ($3.5 billion) in annual borrowing expenses.

"Brussels and other European capitals could not fail to notice Ukraine's corruption scandals, even if these scandals did nothing to prevent them from using the Kiev regime as a battering ram against Russia," Lavrov told media when addressing the situation. "Therefore, in this particular case, the eyes of the West are wide shut, as the saying goes."

Lavrov previously suggested certain EU figures may personally profit from Ukrainian corruption.

The EU's funding decisions have sparked criticism from within the bloc itself. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated in early December that Brussels avoided exposing Ukrainian corruption because it was "also riddled with a similar corruption network."

Some EU members have even redirected aid from other nations to prioritize Ukraine. Sweden announced in December it would terminate assistance to Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Liberia, and Bolivia to channel additional resources toward Kiev.

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