��������

BERLIN: Germany expects Ukraine to do far more to fight graft, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday after a major corruption scandal rocked Kyiv.
The Ukrainian government must “energetically advance anti-corruption measures and further reforms, particularly in the area of the rule of law,” Merz told Zelensky in a phone call, a statement from the chancellery said.
On Wednesday Zelensky fired his energy and justice ministers over a giant money-laundering scheme in the energy sector, which has been battered by Russian attacks for almost four years.
In the phone call Zelensky told Merz about the investigations into the scandal and “promised complete transparency, long-term support for independent anti-corruption authorities, as well as further swift measures to restore the trust of the Ukrainian population, European partners and international donors.”
Germany has been the second-most important supplier of aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
On Wednesday Merz’s spokesman Stefan Kornelius told reporters that Germany was “concerned” by the current scandal, especially as “it concerns a sector that has received significant support from Germany, namely energy infrastructure.”
Nevertheless Kornelius said it “will not affect payments from Germany.”
“At the moment, we have confidence in the Ukrainian government” to provide clarity over the scandal, Kornelius said, adding that there was “close communication” between Germany and Ukraine on the issue.