Former Rada Deputy Andrii Artemenko will testify before a grand jury and supply “emails and other documents” to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the ex-Ukrainian citizen told the Kyiv Post on May 18.
“I am interested in fully cooperating with the Mueller investigation,” Artemenko told the Kyiv Post, adding that he needed to collect emails and documents prior to testifying before a Washington D.C. grand jury on June 1.
Artemenko declined to provide details about his testimony during a phone conversation. The 49-year old former politician was initially scheduled to testify before a grand jury on May 18 but said that a delay was needed in part due to family issues and in part to “provide additional” information.
Artemenko added that he met with prosecutors from the Mueller probe yesterday, discussing questions regarding his testimony.
The former politician’s attorney, Joe Whitley of the Baker Donelson law firm, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Special Counsel Spokesman Peter Carr declined to comment.
Artemenko, a former member of Oleh Lyashko’s Radical Party, made headlines in February 2017 after it emerged that he had engaged in secret negotiations with Trump attorney Michael D. Cohen and Trump associate Felix Sater.
Artemenko allegedly acted as courier for a supposedly Russian-backed deal in which the U.S. would lift sanctions on Moscow in exchange for the Russian partly withdrawing from the Donbas with Ukraine potentially “leasing” Crimea to Russia for 50-100 years. Some reports indicated that the plan would have seen President Petro Poroshenko be ousted.
The plan was delivered to former U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to one count of perjury in December 2017 as part of the Mueller investigation.
The former MP’s peace plan sent him on a downward spiral: Ukrainian authorities swiftly opened a treason investigation into Artemenko, culminating in Poroshenko stripping him of his citizenship in May 2017.
All this came after a lobbying campaign by Artemenko in D.C. which saw him spend $90,000 on lobbyist Dale Armstrong in an apparent attempt to avert his loss of Ukrainian citizenship. Artemenko, who has a Canadian passport and a Miami condo, left Ukraine immediately after.
Mueller’s investigation is tasked with probing Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Potential quid-pro-quos between White House officials and the Russian government would likely be of interest to Mueller’s team of prosecutors.
