During these visits the MPLA developed a relationship with the Soviets, securing funding and in 1961 the explicit support of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who stated that "the patriots of Angola can be sure that the sympathies of the peoples of the great Soviet Union are fully on their side." Many MPLA leaders would go on to be educated in Moscow. The USSR chose to support the MPLA over rival movements in Angola for a number of reasons.  As a left-leaning Marxist movement that explicitly condemned the imperial powers, the MPLA followed the same basic ideological principles as the USSR.  The UPA/FNLA was more ambiguous on this issue, receiving support from the US and sometimes practicing anti-communist rhetoric. 