Former US Vice President Joe Biden has been caught offering Ukraine $1 billion in aid in exchange for the sacking of the nation’s Prosecutor General, Viktor Shokin.
This was contained in an audio recording of a phone conversation between Biden and ex-Ukraine President, Petro Poroshenko.
A Member of Parliament in Ukraine, Andriy Derkach, who released the audio recording, said the conversation took place on March 22, 2016, four days before Shokin’s dismissal from Parliament.
“In case that you have a new government and a new prosecutor general, I am prepared to do a public signing of the commitments on 1 billion dollars,” the then US Vice President could be heard saying.
On the other end of the line, Poroshenko’s voice boomed: “Extremely strong motivation. One of the possible candidates for this position is the leader of my faction Lutsenko.
“If you think that a politically motivated figure could be not very good, from your point of view, I recall this proposal. Cause nobody knows that I am going to propose Lutsenko.”
Shokin himself admitted that Biden held undue influence on him as Prosecutor General.
On January 29, 2020, he urged the State Investigation Bureau to open criminal investigation of the former US second citizen over that influence.
He first made the allegation of the $1 billion quid pro quo involving Biden.