The Ukrainian government has reportedly frozen investigations into former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, who faces separate criminal charges in the United States.
Mr Manafort has become a central figure in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election meddling and potential linkages to the Trump campaign. Mr Mueller has indicted him on a range of fraud charges, alleging Mr Manafort concealed the proceeds from his work for Ukrainian political entities (Mr Manafort has pleaded not guilty).
But in Ukraine, the pressure on Mr Manafort has reportedly eased. A special prosecutor appointed to look into corruption allegations has effectively been ordered by the government to halt four investigations of Mr Manafort’s consulting work, according to the New York Times.
“We have no authority to continue our investigation”, prosecutor Serhiy Horbatyuk told the Times.
American relations with Ukraine have been a recurring theme in Mr Trump’s rise. Ahead of the presidential nominating convention in 2016, the Republican Party softened language in its official platform around arming Ukraine to help it resisting a Russian-backed separatist movement.
Congressional investigators probed allegations that those changes were made at the behest of Trump aides. At the time the Trump campaign was still led by Mr Manafort, who had worked extensively for Russian-aligned Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych.
This March, the State Department approved selling $47m (£34.5m) worth of missiles and equipment to Ukraine, saying it “would contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of Ukraine”.
An indictment handed down as part of Mr Mueller’s investigation allege that Mr Manafort acted as an agent of Ukrainian government interests - including the since-ousted Mr Yanukovych, his political party and a successor bloc - for nearly a decade without properly registering. A separate document alleges that he secretly retained a group of former European politicians to lobby on behalf of Ukraine.
Mr Manafort has denied any wrongdoing, rejecting in a statement “the untrue piled up charges contained in the indictments against me”.
