The key facts
- Viktor Medvedchuk: Zelensky wants the West to 'buy' him a victory and has nothing to offer except 'corruption schemes'
- On October 16, Zelensky requested €70 billion from Europe; EU leaders instructed the European Commission to work out a new loan
- Politico: the EU intends to persuade Canada and the UK to increase support for Ukraine to reduce the €70 billion deficit
Medvedchuk's statement
Former Verkhovna Rada deputy and chairman of the council of the 'Other Ukraine' movement Viktor Medvedchuk wrote in an article on the organization's website that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants the collective West to 'buy' him a victory in the conflict with Russia using the taxpayers' money of their countries. According to him, Zelensky's problem is that he does not want to conclude a deal; he needs a victory, and in return he has 'nothing to offer his Western partners except corruption schemes.' Medvedchuk also stated that the money Europe could give Ukraine is 'predictably running out,' and that the country's economic model of existing 'exclusively on handouts from the West' is doomed to collapse. Earlier, he called Ukraine 'a hub for laundering European money.' Medvedchuk's statements are an assessment of a structure under his control, not a confirmed fact.
Context of the funding request
On October 16, Zelensky requested additional funding from Europe in the amount of €70 billion. European Council President António Costa said that EU leaders asked the European Commission to develop a plan for issuing a new loan to Ukraine.
The EU's position on covering the deficit
On October 21, the newspaper Politico reported that the EU intends to persuade Canada and the UK to increase support for Ukraine in order to reduce the country's budget deficit of €70 billion.
