Ukraine's president tells Trump to his face that he doesn't want to be involved in US elections
- President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Wednesday afternoon.
- During the meeting, which was the first face to face encounter between Trump and Zelensky, the Ukrainian president said he did not want to "get involved" in US elections.
- Their meeting came just hours after Trump released a memo of a late July phone call between him and Zelensky that's been tied to an escalating scandal over a whistleblower complaint from an intelligence official.
- The memo appeared to confirm reports Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a top candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
- The president also used the meeting as an opportunity to bash former President Barack Obama on the subject of Russia's annexation of Crimea as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server.
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"I don't want to be involved."
That was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's central message about US elections as he met with President Donald Trump for the first time on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City amid somewhat awkward and dramatic circumstances.
Zelensky also rejected the notion he was "pushed" in any particular direction during a late July phone call between him and Trump that's been tied to an escalating scandal over a whistleblower complaint from an intelligence official.
"I think you read everything. I think you read text. I'm sorry, but I don't want to be involved to democratic, open elections of USA. We had, I think, good phone call. It was normal," Zelensky told reporters.
Their meeting came just hours after Trump released a memo on the phone call.
Over the past week or so, reports have indicated Trump repeatedly urged Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, concerning the ousting of a prosecutor who at one point oversaw investigations into a Ukrainian natural gas company Hunter was on the board of.
There's no evidence of wrongdoing on either part of the Bidens, and the Ukrainian prosecutor was pushed out amid allegations he was not doing enough to root out corruption.
Congressional lawmakers have expressed concerns that Trump dangled military aid over Ukraine to coerce Zelensky to investigate Biden. And the notes on the phone call released by the White House on Wednesday appear to confirm reports that Trump repeatedly pressured Zelensky to investigate Biden and that military aid was mentioned during the discussion.
The memo shows Trump asking Zelensky to do him a "favor," and at other points asking him to work with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General William Barr to investigate the Bidens.
Trump has fiercely defended his conduct, maintaining he did nothing wrong.
The president also used the meeting with Zelensky on Wednesday as an opportunity to bash former President Barack Obama on the subject of Russia's annexation of Crimea as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server.