Blinken was speaking at a joint press conference in Kyiv alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, adding that the support would be aimed at investing in Ukraine’s industrial base.
Ukraine is fighting two wars. One is near its eastern border, where it faces Russian aggression. The other is at its core, where it is wrestling with some of the worst corruption of any post-Soviet state. The war against corruption is only starting, and the fighting is carried out office by office, ministry by ministry.
Corruption, inadequate professional management, inefficient corporate structures, and technological gaps are just a few of the serious challenges that reformers in Kyiv will have to address before Ukraine can begin producing weapons systems, munitions, and other technologies at the scale needed to address its enormous military needs.
Ukraine’s defense industry has faced several corruption scandals over the course of the Russian full-scale invasion. Corruption is a deeply rooted problem in Ukraine. No doubt, a portion of this new $2 billion injection will also vanish into the deep pockets of the corrupt officials.
