My last three positions before leaving the Senior Foreign Service in 2009 were as Director for NATO and West European Affairs at the National Security Council, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs at the State Department, and, finally, as U.S. Ambassador to NATO. In the
Read Kurt Volker’s prepared opening remarks below. Follow our live coverage of today's hearing, and read House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff's opening statement.As you know, I was the first person to come forward to testify as part of this Inquiry. I did so voluntarily, and likewise voluntarily provided relevant documentation in my possession, in order to be as cooperative, clear and complete as possible.
For over two years, as U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, my singular focus was advancing the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States. In particular, that meant pushing back on Russian aggression and supporting the development of a strong, resilient, democratic, and prosperous Ukraine – one that overcomes a legacy of corruption and becomes integrated into a wider transatlantic community.
When Ambassador Yovanovitch left Kyiv, I identified and recommended Bill Taylor to Secretary Pompeo, so we would still have a strong, seasoned professional on the ground. We changed the language commonly used to describe Russia’s aggression. I was the Administration’s most outspoken, public figure highlighting Russia’s invasion and occupation of parts of Ukraine, and calling out Russia’s responsibility to end the war.
Along with others in the Administration, I strongly advocated for lifting the ban on the sale of lethal defensive arms to Ukraine, advocated for increasing U.S. security assistance to Ukraine, and urged other countries to follow the U.S. lead. In short, whereas two years ago, most observers would have said that time is on Russia’s side, by September of 2019, when I departed, we had turned the tables, and time was now on Ukraine’s side.
The problem was that despite the unanimous, positive assessment and recommendations of those of us who were part of the U.S. Presidential Delegation that attended the inauguration of President Zelenskyy, President Trump was receiving a different, negative narrative about Ukraine and President Zelenskyy. That negative narrative was fueled by accusations from Ukraine’s then-Prosecutor General and conveyed to the President by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
However, more than four weeks passed and we could not nail down a date for the meeting. I came to believe that the President’s long-held negative view toward Ukraine was causing hesitation in actually scheduling the meeting, much as we had seen in our Oval Office discussion. On July 10, after hearing from Mr. Yermak, I wrote to Mayor Giuliani to seek to get together, and finally on July 19 we met for breakfast for a longer discussion. At that meeting, I told Mr. Giuliani that in my view, the Prosecutor General with whom he had been speaking, Mr. Lutsenko, was not credible and was acting in a self-serving capacity. To my surprise, Mr. Giuliani said that he had already come to the same conclusion. Mr.
Mr. Giuliani said he believed the Ukrainian President needed to make a statement about fighting corruption, and that he had discussed this with Mr. Yermak. I said that I did not think this would be a problem, since that is the government’s position anyway. Amb. Sondland and I discussed these points, and I edited the statement drafted by Mr. Yermak to include these points to see how it looked. I then discussed it further with Mr. Yermak. He said that for a number of reasons – including the fact that Mr. Lutsenko was still officially the Prosecutor General -- they did not want to mention Burisma or 2016. I agreed –and the idea of putting out a statement was shelved.
First, at the time I was connecting Mr. Yermak and Mr. Giuliani, and discussing with Mr. Yermak and Amb. Sondland a possible statement that could be made by the Ukrainian President, I did not know of any linkage between the hold on security assistance and Ukraine pursuing investigations. No one had ever said that to me – and I never conveyed such a linkage to the Ukrainians.
Second, I did not know about the strong concerns expressed by then-National Security Advisor John Bolton to members of his NSC staff regarding the discussion of investigations. At the one in-person meeting I had with Mayor Giuliani on July 19, Mayor Giuliani raised, and I rejected, the conspiracy theory that Vice President Biden would have been influenced in his duties as Vice President by money paid to his son. As I testified previously, I have known Vice President Biden for 24 years. He is an honorable man and I hold him in the highest regard.
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