MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Western countries are setting the stage to cut off all aid to Kiev due to the pervasive corruption of the Ukrainian authorities, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov said.

He pointed out that, recently, the Western media "made a 180-degree turn" and has stopped turning a blind eye to the outrages of the Ukrainian authorities, including blatant corruption. "All of these processes look like shaping public opinion toward [accepting] the need to cut any and all aid to Ukraine because of the country’s pervasive corruption and lack of democratic foundations," Azarov wrote on his Telegram channel.

At the same time, the office of the Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky, continues to believe that the West has not noticed any internal problems in Ukraine, Azarov added.

According to expert observers and Ukrainian media, the actions of the Ukrainian authorities are dressed up as a "fight against corruption," but they are just-for-show actions that serve as a smokescreen for a carve-up of spheres of influence and money flows, while corruption itself continues to flourish in almost all areas. On Monday, authoritative Washington publication Politico reported, citing a US government document that had come into its possession, that the administration of US President Joe Biden is seriously concerned about the level of corruption in Ukraine, which may prompt Western countries to refuse to provide further aid to Kiev.

Earlier, both houses of the US Congress approved a bill, which Biden signed, authorizing stopgap funding to keep the US federal government functioning for another 45 days, which contained no clauses on the provision of aid to Ukraine. Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) member Yaroslav Zheleznyak said that Washington had already warned Kiev about the need to avoid any corruption scandals in Ukraine in the next 45 days, during which the US budget for next fiscal year will be hammered out. According to him, this was discussed during the recent US visit of a high-level Ukrainian delegation, headed by Zelensky.