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White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks to members of the media in the Brady Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 17, 2017. AP

WASHINGTONThe White House on Monday alleged that Democrats colluded with Ukraine during the 2016 election, turning the tables on its accusers amid an all-engulfing scandal over Trumps contacts with Russia.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer repeated allegations that a Democratic operative had met with Ukrainian embassy officials during the campaign.

Spicer referred to several recent reports by conservative media outlets, alleging the Democratic operative sought dirt on then Trump campaign director Paul Manafort.

The allegations first came to light in a Politico story in January.

Obviously, theres been a lot more interest in recent days with respect to what the DNC did in coordination with the Ukrainian government to try to collude, Spicer said.

The White House spokesman alleged that the Democratic National Committee collusion took place to achieve a goal of having someone removed, which ultimately did happen.

Manafort left his post in August 2016, as Trumps general election prospects looked dim and details of his own business dealings with pro-Kremlin leaders in Ukraine emerged.

Spicer was asked by a pro-Trump media representative whether the issue was raised when Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko visited the White House in June.

Spicer said he did not know, but claimed that the DNCs collusion with the Ukrainian government has definitely gotten a lot more attention since that meeting.

Adrienne Watson of the DNC accused the White House of deflecting.

The White House has been pushing this narrative to distract from the Trump campaigns willingness to work with a hostile foreign government to interfere in our election. No one is buying it.

The comments come as the White House reeled from Donald Trump Jr.s confession that he and two other Trump senior aides knowingly met Kremlin-connected operatives to get incriminating information on rival presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

READ: Trump Jr. admits he wanted info on Clinton from Russian

That admission, after months of denials, has prompted some Republicans to openly criticize the White House and venture that Donald Jr. may have broken the law.

US intelligence agencies believe that President Vladimir Putin ordered a vast influence operation to tilt the 2016 election in Trumps favor.

Trump himself has responded by describing his sons meeting as business as usual.

Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don jr attended in order to get info on an opponent. Thats politics! he tweeted on Monday.

Spicer seemed to contradict his boss, by saying the meeting was actually about adoption.

In a statement, the Ukrainian embassy in Washington denied allegations it had colluded with Democrats against the Trump campaign.

The embassy neither coordinated with the DNC on opposition research nor taken any actions to undermine campaign efforts, the statement read.

While some politicians who are not part of the Ukrainian government might have taken sides or made comments during last years election, the Embassy and the government of Ukraine did not.

We highly appreciate US administration support to Ukraine and the progress achieved in recent months in our bilateral relations.

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White House accuses Democrats, Ukraine of 'collusion' - Inquirer.net

KIEV, UkraineWhen U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hurried here to Ukraines capital after the G-20 summit earlier this month one of his goals was to speak about the importance of implementing anti-corruption reforms.

But he didnt talk to American-born and American-educated Ulana Suprun, Ukraines health minister, who might have opened his eyes wide. She is on the warpath against a horrific corruption machine involving billion-dollar scams performed by powerful doctors and a pharmaceutical mafia. Its the kind of corruption that corrodes the foundations of democracy, and can destroy it in a country like this, that has known so little good governance for so very long.

Supruns reform campaign has been one of Ukraines biggest hopes for success. If on his next visit Tillerson wants to take the time, Dr. Suprun says she would be happy to show him around the dark labyrinths of corruption that are here.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, Suprun talked about some of the dangerous challenges she has faced while fighting for the reform.

It started about a year ago soon after Suprun first became the acting minister of health care. She walked into the crowded hallway of the oncology department at Kievs Okhmadyt hospital. Children with cancer, some crying in pain, some terrified, were waiting on a long bench together with their mothers for the doctors attention.

The walls were covered in mold, which also threatened the fragile health of the severely sick patients. The fungus was so bad that paint and tiles fell off the walls.

I would show Tillerson the Okhmadyt hospital, Suprun told The Daily Beast. The state has spent about 300 million UAH [$11.5 million] to build the new facilities for that hospital; 60 million UAH [$2.3 million] was spent on equipmentwhich disappeared, Suprun explained.

Suprun, 54, is a tall woman with long blond hair. When we talked she was wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt emblazoned with a trident, a Ukrainian national symbol. People often recognize her on the streets and speak to her, but the former New Yorker walks around Kiev without any security.

Suprun said that to her the mold on the walls at Okhmadyt symbolized the corruption that affected the entire health care system. Some windows had cracks, some had no insulation; there was no air conditioning, mold was everywhere, Suprun said. What was even worse: No doctors showed any respect to the kids, who could barely walk; and the head doctors made money off these desperate parents.

Suprun was appalled as well by the condition of hospitals in the eastern regions suffering from attacks by pro-Russian rebels.

Three years ago she made a decision to move from Manhattan to Kiev together with her husband Marco. Both are ethnic Ukrainians raised to love and respect Ukraines culture, history, and language. Their original plan was to translate literature and develop a film industry, but Kievs pro-European revolution changed all their original plans. The two worked as volunteers, providing first aid to the wounded on Maidan square during the massacre of revolutionaries in February 2014.

After Ukraines President Victor Yanukovych fled to Russia and the conflict began in Eastern Ukraine, Suprun went straight to the front lines to provide medical training for volunteer soldiers who did not have any such skills. Suprun founded Patriot Defense, a nongovernmental organization that trained tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and helped to bring down the mortality rate significantly. In 2015 President Petro Poroshenko conferred Ukrainian citizenship on Suprun and Marco and said that their efforts saved thousands of lives.

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Last week the parliament voted on Supruns reforms, which had become the focus of the entire anti-corruption agenda in Ukraine. The parliamentary committee on health care, pharma-mafia, those who make money on corruption are in the way because we are cutting off their funding, Suprun told The Daily Beast before the vote.

From the beginning of her campaign, Suprun heard threats: One of my critics, a well-known head doctor of a cardiological hospital, who we knew was taking up to $10,000 for implanting one stent, accused me of killing Ukrainians, even of a genocide! He started a campaign to discredit me, Suprun said.

Was she ready to experience more attacks? I have a thick skin. I know that what we are doing is right.

In many countries the hugely expensive equipment in hospitals is leased. But in Ukraine, thats forbidden by law. Why? Because kickbacks are built in to the sales, generating enormous income every year for everybody in the corrupt chain. The pharmo-mafia and some hospitals make billions of dollars, while we want the purchasing to be done by international organizations including the UNDP, UNICEF, through tenders, Suprun explained.

The reform was aiming to save millions of dollars a year for the budget, cutting off the channel for kickbacks and eventually decreasing the income for some particular doctors who hated the reform.

In the medical sector the budget is divided up into the regions, so each administration gets a cut of the pie, then the leftovers are passed to the districts, where more bureaucracies get their cuts, and then to the cities.

There is a tiny piece left to fix the poor infrastructure of hospitals and pay extremely low salaries for the workers, Suprun said. The average salary of a Ukrainian doctor is about $200 a month. Thats what makes medical workers charge payments for their services, then kick back up to their head doctors and higher, she said.

Suprun and her team traveled to London to present their reform to a panel at Chatham House. It was said that to improve the playing field for foreign investors in Ukraine, one needed to strengthen the rule of law, have less regulation and eradicate corruption, one of the panels participants, former OSCE spokesman in Ukraine Michael Bociurkiw told The Daily Beast.

When it comes to the corruption fight, I know of no one else in the government, whos given so much energy, passion and commitment to push through the reforms. Dr. Suprun is the last remaining foreign technocrat in the cabinet, holding her position in pretty much a male-dominated, old boys club.

The parliament did not pass the reforms, and Suprun admitted afterward they didnt get adequate support from the powers that be. Our team worked effectively to prepare the reform, but there was no political will to continue this at the top level, she said.

But the fight continues.

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The American Doctor Trying to Cure Ukraine's Corruption - Daily Beast

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union is planning to impose duties of up to 33 percent on hot-rolled steel imports from Brazil, Iran, Russia and Ukraine to counter what it sees as unfairly low prices, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The EU has over 40 anti-dumping measures to aid European steel producers, mostly aimed at China. In June, the bloc set duties of up to 35.9 percent on Chinese hot-rolled steel, prompting an angry response from Beijing.

Steel is the second biggest industry in the world after oil and gas and the EU's attention has recently shifted as barriers aimed at cheap Chinese imports have an impact.

"While far from perfect, this outcome surpasses earlier expectations, will help cut import pressure into the EU and should boost earnings expectations for local steelmakers," investment bank Jefferies said in a note.

The European Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, launched an investigation into hot-rolled steel from Brazil, Iran, Russia and Ukraine as well as Serbia in July 2016, following a complaint by European steel association Eurofer.

Its investigation found hot-rolled steel from all the countries save Serbia rose to take 12.6 percent of the EU market in the year to mid-2016 from 7.5 percent in 2013, with prices falling by about a quarter, according to the document.

The Commission terminated its investigation into Serbian steel imports with no tariffs set, the document showed.

However, it is proposing duties of 16.3 percent for steel from ArcelorMittal Brasil, 17.5 percent for Usinas Siderurgicas and 15.7 percent for Companhia Siderurgica National.

For Russia, NLMK would face 15.0 percent duties, MMK 33.0 percent and PAO Severstal 5.3 percent.

For Iran's Mobarakeh Steel Co 23 percent duties would apply and for Ukraine's Metinvest Group [METIV.UL] 19.4 percent. The Islamic Republic is now free to export steel after the easing of international sanctions against it.

Definitive duties need to be applied by October 6.

Reporting by Maytaal Angel; writing by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Alexander Smith

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EU proposes duties on Brazil, Iran, Russia, Ukraine steel - Reuters

More than 200 soldiers in a New York Army National Guard until will head to Europe in October for a nine-month mission to train Ukrainian forces. (MGN Online)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- More than 200 soldiers in a New York Army National Guard until will head to Europe in October for a nine-month mission to train Ukrainian forces.

The state Division of Military and Naval Affairs says Tuesday that most of the Guardsmen are members of the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry based at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

The squadron, part of the Syracuse-based 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, also has elements in Buffalo, Jamestown and Geneva.

While in Ukraine the New York soldiers will be part of a multinational training group tasked with training battalions of Ukrainian troops for defense and security missions. Troops from Canada and four European nations are also part of the training mission.

Fighting erupted after Russia-backed rebels took control of parts of Ukraine in April 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

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New York Army National Guard troops to train Ukrainian forces - CNYcentral.com

Ukraine is the central battleground between the rapidly fraying West and the brutally ascendant East. As NATO bickers over defense contributions by member states, Article 5 commitments and its renegade member Turkey, Russia is taking concerted action to secure its borders, expand its influence and weaken the bedrock alliance that has kept the peace in Europe for the past 60 years.

Ukraine lies at ground zero in this clash of civilizations between the rule of law and the power of the sword. Its moves to join the EU prompted Russian troops to seize the eastern third of the country. Despite U.S. and European sanctions, Ukraine remains a divided and war-torn state on NATOs eastern flank.

Curing the cancer of corruption will require radical surgery and The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act might be one of the options to punish corrupted foreign officials.

Secretary of State Rex Tillersons July 7th appointment of Ambassador Kurt Volker as Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations is a necessary but insufficient step in the right direction.Implementing the Minsk Agreements, which provide a blueprint for a political settlement, may reduce the violence but it will not cure the cancer that is steadily destroying Ukraine and doing more harm to the integrity of the state than Russian-backed aggression.

Ukraine is 130th out of 168 countries ranked by Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index 2015. It is worse than Russia (119) in terms of corruption. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), Ukrainians cite corruption as a more urgent problem than the war against pro-Russian rebels by a margine of two-to-one. Another survey by the European Business Association and Dragon Capital, Ukraines leading private equity firm, found that Foreign investors believe that the biggest obstacles for investment in Ukraine are widespread corruption (average score 8.5 points out of 10 possible) and lack of trust in the judiciary (7.5 points).

Most of the pre-war investment in Ukraine was actually re-invested Ukrainian and Russian capital, which means that key factors that keep genuine FDI away from Ukraine existed before the onset of the conflict. These obstacles still need to be addressed. As the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development underlines, While the political and security situation has deteriorated in recent years, the problems are long-term and have to do with poor business environment, weak institutions, and widespread corruption.

Institutional rot is at the core of Ukraines problem. The officials charged with enforcing Ukraines anti-corruption efforts are themselves compromised. Ukraines Prime Minister recognized this issue when he admitted last year that, The weakest link in our fight against corruption are the Ukrainian courts. Despite an initiative that requires judges and other public sector workers to detail their wealth in an online database, judges continue to drive Porsches and receive large sums of cash to influence judicial decisions. One-third (24 of 68) of the criminal cases sent by the National Anti-corruption Agency of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutors Office (SAPO) to courts remain stalled for over one year.

The senior leadership of Ukraines Anti-Corruption Action Center, which has received significant funding support from the U.S. government, has profited from sweetheart deals and kickbacks. Its Director, Vitaly Shabunin, earns $34,000 according to his tax filing. In 2010, he bought an apartment for $60,000. In 2014, he acquired land near Kiev for $20,000. In 2016, he sold his apartment for $34,000 and built a house for $83,000. All properties are registered in his wifes name and there are no mortgages on the properties.

Politically motivated state-sponsored gangsterism has also had a chilling effect on Ukraines investment climate. In April 2017, Ukraines state security service raided the Kiev offices of Dragon Capital, one of the country's largest investment banks, over the alleged use of illegal software. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman interrupted a cabinet meeting to express his surprise at the news of the raid on Dragon Capital, which he warned could affect investor sentiment. Dragon Capital CEO Tomas Fiala said the searches were part of a government-backed effort to pressure the bank, whose assets had been seized by allies of President Petro Poroshenko such as Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Granovsky.

In another long-running legal battle, American citizens Ilya and Vadim Segal allege that Ukrainian oligarch billionaire Dmitry Firtash (being extradited to the US to face bribery charges ) and his DF Group allegedly supported by MP Ivan Fursin and by Sergei Levochkin (former head of the Administration of President Yanukovich and Firtash partner at Inter News Channel) seized a $50 million soybean plant they owned through a campaign of fraud, physical threats, coercion and corruption. After a series of legal victories, the Segal brothers still struggle to get access to their factory.

In his meeting with Ukrainian President Poroshenko last June, Vice President Pence stressed the importance of continued reforms to fight corruption, improve the business climate, and keep Ukraine's International Monetary Fund program on track. This anodyne-sounding advice goes to the heart of Ukraines national epidemic. Curing the cancer of corruption will require radical surgery and The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act might be one of the options to punish corrupted foreign officials.

Adam Ereli is former U.S. Ambassador and State Department deputy spokesman.

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Corrupt Ukraine is ground zero in clash between East and West ...