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What Manchin's censure idea meant for Trump's Ukraine trial
Summary
A look back at early February 2020, when a Democratic senator floated censure over pressure on Ukraine while a separate crisis flared in Idlib.
What did Washington's Ukraine controversy look like in the days before 7 February 2020? On 3 February, as the impeachment trial of Donald Trump continued, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin asked his colleagues to consider censuring the president as an alternative to impeachment.
The proposal concerned Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate domestic political rivals. Manchin was considered friendly with the White House, which made the suggestion notable in a trial otherwise shaped by party lines.
A parallel crisis in Syria
On the same day, 3 February, a separate confrontation involving Russia and Turkey unfolded in north-western Syria. Syrian Army shelling in Idlib Governorate killed Turkish military personnel, and Turkish forces retaliated.
A pro-opposition war monitor said the Turkish response killed 13 Syrian soldiers, which Syria denied. Turkish President Erdoğan said the shelling killed five Turkish soldiers and three civilian personnel, with nine others injured, and said the Russians needed to stand aside. The Russian Ministry of Defence said Turkey had moved troops inside the de-escalation zone without notifying the Russian side.
The two stories were unconnected in the reports, but both showed how Ukraine-related politics in Washington and the regional rivalry between Moscow and Ankara were running at the same time in early February 2020.
