The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament responds to the interview of Ukrainian President to the U.S. podcaster Lex Fridman.

"It is painful to see, at the background of moralistic preaching about corruption, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom the West considers the defender of Europe, struggle with questions critical to the survival of his nation", - writes Shalva Papuashvili on the social network X.

Ukraine has not received even half of the USD 177 billion the U.S. allocated to support Kyiv throughout the full-scale war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Lex Fridman. The President implied that this development may have been linked to corruption or lobbying on the side of U.S. companies.

The U.S. has become Ukraine’s top supporter, providing the largest amount of military assistance to resist Russian aggression. Voices critical of Washington’s support have often cited corruption risks and dangers of the illicit arms trade, though U.S. watchdogs have closely monitored the assistance.

"If we had USD 177 billion and if we get the half, where is the second half? If you find the second half, you will find corruption", - said Zelenskyy. He provided an example of him allegedly unsuccessfully appealing to Washington to bring in U.S. arms using Ukraine’s own fleet of cargo planes not to pay for the transport.

"No. I didn’t get this opportunity. My jets stayed put, and the U.S. jets, cargo jets moved these weapons. But everywhere you have to spend money. Ukraine could have spent this money to buy more arms instead of paying for expensive transport to U.S. companies. Is this corruption or not? Or lobbyism? I had been reluctant to talk about such causes so as not to cause a scandal that could lead to the halt of aid. Ukraine does not profit from the war and that such claims stem from Russian propaganda, Ukrainian authorities strictly punish anybody who attempts to profit from foreign military aid", - explained the President.