During a day-long media event at a food court in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky continued to try to shove considerable distance between himself and the political scandal currently engulfing President Trump.
According to ABC News, Zelensky reiterated there was “no blackmail” during his phone call with President Trump, which formed the basis of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. The newly-elected Ukrainian president also insisted that he didn’t talk to Trump about his decision to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid from Ukraine.
“We didn’t speak about this,” he told reporters. The call “wasn’t linked to weapons or the story with (Ukrainian gas company) Burisma,” adding that he doesn’t “want to interfere in any way in the elections.”
While Zelensky has made similar claims in recent weeks, the ongoing effort to distance himself from Trump’s political mess is notable. The now-infamous July call between Trump and Zelensky stands at the heart of the impeachment inquiry into Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to pressure foreign leaders into investigating his political rivals.
