Ukraine’s president says in a new interview that he never discussed a “quid pro quo” with President Trump, but criticized any blocking of U.S. security aid for his country at a time when it is at war with Russia.
“I never talked to the president from the position of a quid pro quo. That’s not my thing,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Time published Monday.
“I don’t want us to look like beggars. But you have to understand. We’re at war,” he said. “If you’re our strategic partner, then you can’t go blocking anything for us. I think that’s just about fairness. It’s not about a quid pro quo. It just goes without saying.”
Trump’s dealings with Ukraine are at the center of the impeachment inquiry engulfing Washington. Democrats are seeking to make the case that Trump withheld security assistance to Ukraine to get that country to announce investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The aid was eventually sent to Ukraine, but not until the White House was aware of an anonymous whistleblower’s complaint about the issue.
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In the interview with Time, Zelensky added that he wanted to improve Ukraine’s image on the world stage, pointing to Trump’s frequent insistence that the country is rife with corruption.
“When America says, for instance, that Ukraine is a corrupt country, that is the hardest of signals,” the president said. “It might seem like an easy thing to say, that combination of words: Ukraine is a corrupt country. Just to say it and that’s it. But it doesn’t end there. Everyone hears that signal. Investments, banks, stakeholders, companies, American, European, companies that have international capital in Ukraine, it’s a signal to them that says, ‘Be careful, don’t invest.’ Or, ‘Get out of there.’”
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#BREAKING: Ukraine's Zelensky: I never talked to Trump about "position of a quid pro quo" https://t.co/1oFG9XWTmj pic.twitter.com/LtIa2nkZLZ
— The Hill (@thehill) December 2, 2019
In fact, this is not what Zelensky said. What he said was: "We’re at war. If you're our strategic partner, then you can't go blocking anything for us. I think that's just about fairness. It's not about a quid pro quo. It just goes without saying." https://t.co/bFqT8FKHex https://t.co/cXOeWJY6tL
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) December 2, 2019
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