Did Russian President Putin And Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Reinforced Presdient Trump's View That Ukraine Is Corrupt?

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Thomson Reuters

Business Insider/Reuters: Putin and Hungary reportedly 'poisoned' Trump’s view on Ukraine and reinforced his belief that the country was 'hopelessly corrupt'

* Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban reportedly reinforced Trump's view that Ukraine was a "hopelessly corrupt" country.
* Current and former US officials told The Washington Post that Putin and Orban, along with Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, reinforced negative views of Ukraine.
* Trump discussed investigating his political rival former Vice President Joe Biden during a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
* During the call, Trump also pushed an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory about Ukraine's involvement in efforts to undermine him during the 2016 election.
* His conversation with Zelensky and the possible solicitation of foreign influence in the election are at the center of the House impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged President Donald Trump to adopt a "hostile view" of Ukraine which helped reinforce the notion that the country was "hopelessly corrupt," The Washington Post reported on Monday.

Current and former US officials told The Post that Trump's conversations with Putin, Orban, and others in recent months appeared to strengthen Trump's view that Ukraine was a corrupt country and put him at odds with White House officials who struggled to dissuade Trump from exploiting the country for political purposes.

Describing a May phone call between Trump and Putin, a US official with knowledge of the conversation told the Post that Putin "did what he always does" and disparaged Ukraine.

Read more ....

Update #1: Putin and Hungary’s Orban helped sour Trump on Ukraine (Washington Post)
Update #2: Washington Post: Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister disparaged Ukraine to Trump (CNN)

WNU Editor: Being one who has a lot of family in Ukraine, and who has also lived there for a few years, I can say this without reservation. Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. If Russian President Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Orban both told President Trump the same thing, I would say that they are doing a favour and service to the U.S..

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