Leonid Kuchma

And when I arrived, the most popular politician in Ukraine was Vladimir Putin.

Obviously not a Ukrainian politician, but he was more popular than the then president of Ukraine, Kuchma, the opposition figure, Yushchenko.

And you might say that he, Putin, was extremely popular in the east and the south, which has, it's basically a Russian-speaking area.

Even Ukrainians there speak Russian.

And he congratulated Yanukovych on his quote-unquote victory after the falsified second round.

And as the crowds gathered against that falsified vote, he was encouraging Ukraine, the Ukrainian authorities, to crack down.

He essentially summoned the still president of Ukraine at that time, Kuchma, to an airport in Moscow, where he read him the riot act.

He put that down.

And I wanted to make very clear From Ukraine's independence, I actually volunteered my time to help Ukraine in its early days.

I was an advisor to President Leonid Kuchma.

At various times, I have responded to requests for giving advice or any suggestions on Ukrainian economic topics.

I am hardly against Ukraine.

They talked about the Britain still supporting Ukraine, giving more storm shadows to Ukraine.

And then very interestingly, they showed a picture of the two Ukrainian oligarchs, Renat Akhmetov, the metal baron, and Viktor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of Kuchma, the former president.

Them sitting, you know, in England is kind of these kingpins.

And so, yeah, there's hints that things could go bad.

Keep in mind, 80% of Zelensky's predecessors in Ukraine have been criminally prosecuted.

For example, Leonid Kuchma was prosecuted for murder.

Viktor Yushchenko was investigated for bribery.

Viktor Yanukovych was convicted for treason and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

In fact, I was senior advisor to the Polish government.

I helped them a lot, thank you, in the late 80s and the early 1990s, at the same time that I was meeting with Chancellor Kohl, and the same time I was advising President Gorbachev, and the same time I was advising President Yeltsin, and the same time I was advising Ukrainian President Kuchma.

And I know how the United States so profoundly messed up.

Yes, it's incompetence mixed with hubris.

Inside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, four men are seated at a long wooden table.

President of Ukraine, a guy named Leonid Kuchma.

The president of Russian Federation, a guy named Boris Yeltsin.

You may have heard of him.