Kyiv's crowded political week before 7 October 2019

What was on Kyiv's political table on 7 October 2019? In the days before that date, three storylines overlapped: a new government's reform plan, a peace-process concession on Donbas, and a United States political scandal that centred on Ukraine.

On 4 October 2019, Prime Minister Oleksii Honcharuk presented the five-year plan of what was described as a government of technocrats.

On 1 October 2019, President Volodymyr Zelensky replied to a letter from Martin Sajdik, saying Ukraine agreed to the text of the so-called Steinmeier formula. The formula was aimed at granting special self-governing status to parts of Donbas and organising elections validated by the OSCE and held under Ukrainian law.

At the same time, the 2019 Trump–Ukraine scandal continued to unfold in Washington. On 3 October 2019, sources for The New York Times alleged that two American diplomats had presented a statement for Zelensky to sign, under which Ukraine would commit to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. On 2 October 2019, the office of Representative Adam Schiff said that a whistleblower who had filed a complaint over President Donald Trump's phone call with Zelensky had sought guidance from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence before filing, though it denied seeing the complaint in advance. On 1 October 2019, Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani hired Jon Sale to represent him in the impeachment inquiry.

For Kyiv, the days leading up to 7 October 2019 combined domestic planning with pressure on its international position.