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Ukraine is the central battleground between the rapidly fraying West and the brutally ascendant East. As NATO bickers over defense contributions by member states, Article 5 commitments and its renegade member Turkey, Russia is taking concerted action to secure its borders, expand its influence and weaken the bedrock alliance that has kept the peace in Europe for the past 60 years.

Ukraine lies at ground zero in this clash of civilizations between the rule of law and the power of the sword. Its moves to join the EU prompted Russian troops to seize the eastern third of the country. Despite U.S. and European sanctions, Ukraine remains a divided and war-torn state on NATOs eastern flank.

Curing the cancer of corruption will require radical surgery and The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act might be one of the options to punish corrupted foreign officials.

Secretary of State Rex Tillersons July 7th appointment of Ambassador Kurt Volker as Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations is a necessary but insufficient step in the right direction.Implementing the Minsk Agreements, which provide a blueprint for a political settlement, may reduce the violence but it will not cure the cancer that is steadily destroying Ukraine and doing more harm to the integrity of the state than Russian-backed aggression.

Ukraine is 130th out of 168 countries ranked by Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index 2015. It is worse than Russia (119) in terms of corruption. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), Ukrainians cite corruption as a more urgent problem than the war against pro-Russian rebels by a margine of two-to-one. Another survey by the European Business Association and Dragon Capital, Ukraines leading private equity firm, found that Foreign investors believe that the biggest obstacles for investment in Ukraine are widespread corruption (average score 8.5 points out of 10 possible) and lack of trust in the judiciary (7.5 points).

Most of the pre-war investment in Ukraine was actually re-invested Ukrainian and Russian capital, which means that key factors that keep genuine FDI away from Ukraine existed before the onset of the conflict. These obstacles still need to be addressed. As the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development underlines, While the political and security situation has deteriorated in recent years, the problems are long-term and have to do with poor business environment, weak institutions, and widespread corruption.

Institutional rot is at the core of Ukraines problem. The officials charged with enforcing Ukraines anti-corruption efforts are themselves compromised. Ukraines Prime Minister recognized this issue when he admitted last year that, The weakest link in our fight against corruption are the Ukrainian courts. Despite an initiative that requires judges and other public sector workers to detail their wealth in an online database, judges continue to drive Porsches and receive large sums of cash to influence judicial decisions. One-third (24 of 68) of the criminal cases sent by the National Anti-corruption Agency of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) to courts remain stalled for over one year.

The senior leadership of Ukraines Anti-Corruption Action Center, which has received significant funding support from the U.S. government, has profited from sweetheart deals and kickbacks. Its Director, Vitaly Shabunin, earns $34,000 according to his tax filing. In 2010, he bought an apartment for $60,000. In 2014, he acquired land near Kiev for $20,000. In 2016, he sold his apartment for $34,000 and built a house for $83,000. All properties are registered in his wifes name and there are no mortgages on the properties.

Politically motivated state-sponsored gangsterism has also had a chilling effect on Ukraines investment climate. In April 2017, Ukraines state security service raided the Kiev offices of Dragon Capital, one of the country's largest investment banks, over the alleged use of illegal software. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman interrupted a cabinet meeting to express his surprise at the news of the raid on Dragon Capital, which he warned could affect investor sentiment. Dragon Capital CEO Tomas Fiala said the searches were part of a government-backed effort to pressure the bank, whose assets had been seized by allies of President Petro Poroshenko such as Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Granovsky.

In another long-running legal battle, American citizens Ilya and Vadim Segal allege that Ukrainian oligarch billionaire Dmitry Firtash (being extradited to the US to face bribery charges ) and his DF Group allegedly supported by MP Ivan Fursin and by Sergei Levochkin (former head of the Administration of President Yanukovich and Firtash partner at Inter News Channel) seized a $50 million soybean plant they owned through a campaign of fraud, physical threats, coercion and corruption. After a series of legal victories, the Segal brothers still struggle to get access to their factory.

In his meeting with Ukrainian President Poroshenko last June, Vice President Pence stressed the importance of continued reforms to fight corruption, improve the business climate, and keep Ukraine's International Monetary Fund program on track. This anodyne-sounding advice goes to the heart of Ukraines national epidemic. Curing the cancer of corruption will require radical surgery and The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act might be one of the options to punish corrupted foreign officials.

Adam Ereli is former U.S. Ambassador and State Department deputy spokesman.

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Corrupt Ukraine is ground zero in clash between East and West ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU foreign ministers approved on Monday measures to allow Ukraine to export more industrial and agricultural products free of tariffs to the bloc in recognition of reforms undertaken by Kiev and the country's fragile economy.

By the end of September, Ukraine will be able to export greater tonnage of farm products, including grains, honey and processed tomatoes for three years.

The EU will also remove for the same period import duties on fertilisers, dyes, footwear, copper, aluminum, televisions and sound recording equipment.

The measures add to a free-trade agreement provisionally in place since January 2016 that has opened both markets for goods and services.

"It is our duty to support Ukraine and strengthen our economic and political ties, also in the face of the ongoing conflict on its soil," said Estonia Foreign Minster Sven Mikser, whose country holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union.

Trade has been at the heart of a dispute between Russia and the European Union over relations with Ukraine, with Moscow and Brussels both competing to bring Kiev closer to their side through offers of greater economic integration.

While Kiev has moved westward, Russia has sought to destabilize Ukraine, EU governments and NATO say, by annexing Crimea and providing separatists with weapons and troops in Ukraine's industrial east.

Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Robin Emmott

Excerpt from:
EU agrees to allow in more Ukraine exports for three years - Reuters

White House spokesman Sean Spicer repeated allegations that a Democratic operative had met with Ukrainian embassy officials during the campaign, turning the tables on its accusers amid an all-engulfing scandal over Trump's contacts with Russia.

Spicer referred to several recent reports by conservative media outlets, alleging the Democratic operative sought dirt on then Trump campaign director Paul Manafort.

The allegations first came to light in a Politico story in January.

"Obviously, there's been a lot more interest in recent days with respect to what the DNC did in coordination with the Ukrainian government to try to collude," Spicer said.

The White House spokesman alleged that the Democratic National Committee collusion took place to "achieve a goal of having someone removed, which ultimately did happen."

Manafort left his post in August 2016, as Trump's general election prospects looked dim and details of his own business dealings with pro-Kremlin leaders in Ukraine emerged.

Spicer was asked by a pro-Trump media representative whether the issue was raised when Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko visited the White House in June.

Spicer said he did not know, but claimed that "the DNC's collusion with the Ukrainian government has definitely gotten a lot more attention since that meeting."

Adrienne Watson of the DNC accused the White House of deflecting.

"The White House has been pushing this narrative to distract from the Trump campaign's willingness to work with a hostile foreign government to interfere in our election. No one is buying it."

The comments come as the White House reeled from Donald Trump Jr.'s confession that he and two other Trump senior aides knowingly met Kremlin-connected operatives to get incriminating information on rival presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

That admission, after months of denials, has prompted some Republicans to openly criticize the White House and venture that Donald Jr. may have broken the law.

US intelligence agencies believe that President Vladimir Putin ordered a vast influence operation to tilt the 2016 election in Trump's favor.

Trump himself has responded by describing his son's meeting as business as usual.

"Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don jr attended in order to get info on an opponent.

That's politics!" he tweeted on Monday.

Spicer seemed to contradict his boss, by saying the meeting was actually about adoption.

In a statement, the Ukrainian embassy in Washington denied allegations it had "colluded" with Democrats against the Trump campaign.

The embassy "neither coordinated with the DNC on opposition research nor taken any actions to undermine campaign efforts," the statement read.

"While some politicians who are not part of the Ukrainian government might have taken sides or made comments during last year's election, the Embassy and the government of Ukraine did not."

"We highly appreciate US administration support to Ukraine and the progress achieved in recent months in our bilateral relations."

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White House accuses Democrats, Ukraine of 'collusion' - SBS

Members of the Oklahoma National Guardin Ukraine earned the gratitude and respect of many civilians thereas they went above and beyond the call of duty.

Five soldiers with the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team's (IBCT) 1st Battalion, 279th Regiment, ran into a burning apartment building in L'viv Sunday, helping to evacuate residents from the building's top floor.

The Guard members were in L'viv, a 60-minute drive from the training compound where they live, to sight-see and relax, as many do on Sundays. While walking through the city's historic old town, the men noticed smoke coming from a building nearby.

"So, my first instinct, being infantry, is to run toward the fire," said Sgt. Nelson Deese of Alpha Company.

Deese says, when they got to the building, he noticed no firefighters had arrived yet, and everyone else seemed to just be watching and not doing anything to help.

"Everyone was kind of, like, looking and kept going about their business, like it wasn't a big deal," Deese recalled, in an interview with 45th IBCT Public Affairs staff."So, I'm like, 'Hey, let's get in there.'"

"Instinctively, we all just ran inside and started helping people out," added Spc. Kellar Jackson.

Jackson and Deese were joined by Spc. Vincent Humerickhouse, Pfc. Kevin Polk, and Spc. Aaron Moore. They dodged people running out and ran straight to the third floor.

"And you could see the fire," Deese stated."It was just...blazin'!"

In his hometown of Crowder, Oklahoma, in Pittsburg County, Deese is a volunteer firefighter, so he knew they had to move quickly and get people out.

"We just started knocking on doors, banging on windows, trying to get people's attention," Deese explained."[Because] they were definitely not aware of the fire."

"We could barely breathe, and it was kind of chaotic," Jackson noted. "We had one lady that didn't want to come out, because she didn't want to leave her dogs."

The Oklahoma soldiers don't speak Ukrainian, but Deese says it wasn't hard to get the message across.

"They realized what was going on," Deese said."So they ran back inside and tried to grab whatever they could, and their other family members."

L'viv firefighters soon showed up and took over, but it was the quick response of the Oklahoma Guard members that truly saved the day.

"I was really worried for the people inside," Deese said."I wanted to make sure they got out."

"I am proud of what we did," said Jackson."I'm glad we did that."

The 45th IBCT is scheduled to be in Western Ukraine, carrying out its training mission, through the end of 2017.

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Oklahoma National Guard Soldiers Save Residents In Ukraine Apartment Fire - news9.com KWTV

Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, admitted Sunday that it was problematicfor Democrats to collude with Ukraine.

A January Politico report indicated that a Democratic National Committee operative worked with Ukrainian government officials to dig up Russia-related opposition research on Donald Trump. The operative later shared that information with the DNC and the Clinton campaign. (RELATED:Everybody Is Forgetting That Clinton Allies Did The Same Thing As Don Jr.)

Several Trump allies have pointed out that the Ukraine storyline isnt dissimilar from Donald Trump Jr. meeting with a Russian lawyer with the intention ofcollecting damaging information against Hillary Clinton.

During a Sunday interview on ABCs This Week, Jon Karl asked Rep. Adam Schiff, who has been an outspoken critic of the Trump Jr. meeting, if he also found the DNC-Ukraine collusion to be wrong.

No, it wouldnt be acceptable for the Democrats to accept help from the Ukrainian government, Schiff admitted.

WATCH:

Schiff tried to argue that the Russian effort to help Trump was much more widespread and reportedly came directly from Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The scale of what the Russians did is not comparable to anything in [the Politico report],he alleged.

So the scale is different, but this is problematic. Acknowledge that, Karl pressed.

Well, it would be problematic to get any sort of support from a foreign government, Schiff said.

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Rep. Schiff: Democrat Collusion With Ukraine 'Problematic' [VIDEO] - The Daily Caller