US State Department says Ukraine can "do more" in ongoing anti-corruption fight

The US State Department believes that Ukraine can do more to fight corruption, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller at a briefing.

Washington has long been conducting a dialogue with the Ukrainian government regarding the need to take anti-graft measures.

He noted that in recent years, Kyiv has taken a number of measures to combat corruption.

"We think there’s more that we can – that they can do and we’re engaged in ongoing dialogue with them about that topic," Miller said.

Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected accusations of corruption in Ukraine and declared that "everything is clean" in the country.

At the end of January 2024, the international anti-corruption organization Transparency International published the results of the study "Corruption Perceptions Index 2023", in which Ukraine with 36 points took 104th place among 180 countries of the world – the country showed one of the most improved results in the world for the year.

Zelenskyy stated that the issue of fighting corruption is "very sensitive" in Ukraine during the war. He admitted that "corruption mistakes" exist and noted that he is fighting against them.

American congressmen should visit Ukraine more often to see real progress in the fight against corruption, said Elizabeth Hoffman, director of congressional and government affairs, fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS, Washington), in a comment to LIGA.net.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that his country has a "clear plan" for the development of Ukraine in the future, which will help it become self-sufficient and overcome corruption.