A few days ago, the New York Times published an article calling the level of corruption in Ukraine "unyielding." The newspaper wrote that the US government must stop pouring money into a "corrupt swamp" that Ukraine has become unless its government implements some real changes to battle corruption.
Upon reading the article Poroshenko became extremely defensive and accused the New York Times of waging "hybrid warfare" to discredit his country.
"I'd like to be clear about this: today hybrid warfare is being waged against Ukraine, in particular, using the mechanisms of information distribution which discredit Ukraine," Poroshenko said, as cited by the newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda.
"Now Kiev should demand that the New York Times is included in some sort of sanctions list. Better American one," — Zakharova commented on Poroshenko's accusations at the newspaper, which had supported his government many times in the past.
The New York Times also called Poroshenko "a product of the old system" who "seems to have accepted continuing corruption as the price to pay for a modicum of maneuvering room."
Seems like the patience of the US government, which in the past has been very generous toward Ukraine, is beginning to thin out.
Since the overthrow of former Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych, the US government has provided Ukraine with two loan guarantees worth $2 billion and hundreds of millions in other assistance.
In 2015, Transparency International ranked Ukraine 142nd out of 175 investigated counties.
