US pressures Ukraine to accept deported third-country nationals

The Washington Post (WP) reported, based on relevant documents, that the administration of US President Donald Trump earlier this year called on the Ukrainian government to accept an “unspecified number” of third-country nationals who were deported from the United States.

The newspaper noted that this request seemed “unusual” given the ongoing war in Ukraine, the non-operational airports, and the country’s dependence on military and financial support.

The documents did not specify how Kyiv responded to this request.

According to WP, a Ukrainian diplomat informed the US embassy that the government would convey a response as soon as it was formulated.

The diplomat said that Ukraine has a “history of accepting its own citizens after they are deported from the United States,” but the government is currently facing an “extraordinary wartime situation.”

Two Ukrainian officials who spoke to the newspaper said that the issue was not discussed among the highest-level government officials.

Another official stated that they were not aware of any “political request” from the US to accept deportees.

The newspaper emphasized that Ukraine has not accepted any third-country nationals deported from the US.

It was noted that similar requests were made to several other countries between January and May, and that El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, and a number of other states responded positively to these requests.

In return, the Trump administration offered to improve relations with these countries and provided other incentives.

For example, the Rwandan government, which accepted a deported Iraqi, was paid $100,000 and later approved the acceptance of ten more people under a “long-term program.”

According to data, the Trump administration plans to deport up to one million immigrants in its first year in office.

The previous record was set during the term of the 44th US President Barack Obama, who served from January 2009 to January 2017, with over 400,000 deportations in a single year.