The State Department on Monday announced Mr. Pompeo’s trip, which also had stops planned in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Cyprus. The department had said Mr. Pompeo intended to “reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” on his trip, a reference to the yearslong war that Ukraine is fighting against a Russian-backed insurgency in the east.
The Ukraine trip this week had been scheduled after Mr. Pompeo canceled plans for a visit there in November. That journey, and a possible meeting with Mr. Zelensky, would have taken place in the middle of the impeachment testimony in the House.
The two cancellations could add to suspicions among Ukrainian officials that Mr. Trump has little regard for Ukraine while holding warm feelings for Russia and President Vladimir V. Putin. Mr. Zelensky still wants a White House meeting, despite the furor over impeachment and Mr. Trump’s actions on Ukraine. And Ukrainian officials were frustrated by an Oval Office meeting on Dec. 10 between Mr. Trump and Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister.
Mr. Pompeo had made plans to avoid interacting this week with William B. Taylor Jr., the departing chief of mission in Kyiv. Mr. Taylor was a prominent witness in the House impeachment hearings. The ouster last spring of his predecessor, Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch, was a signal moment in a shadow American foreign policy in Ukraine run by Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Last April, Mr. Pompeo ordered the recall of Ms. Yovanovitch after speaking with Mr. Giuliani. Ms. Yovanovitch was a champion of anti-corruption efforts, and Mr. Giuliani and associates with ties to Ukrainian businessmen had pressed for her ouster.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/01/us/politics/pompeo-cancels-ukraine-trip.html
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