Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters Thursday his controversial
July call with President Trump involved no bribe, blackmail or quid pro quo, as
impeachment-minded Democrats claim.
Zelensky spoke at a daylong event with media inside
a Kiev food market, and said he believes the transcript released by the White
House is accurate and that he knew the U.S. had withheld $400 million in
military aid due to concerns about corruption and concern for American
"taxpayer money." But the issue, he said, was never linked to Trump's
desire that Kiev rekindle an investigation into an energy company with ties to
former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.
"There was no blackmail," Zelensky
said. "They blocked this money and nobody asked us [for]
anything,"
Zelensky also told reporters his country will
"happily" investigate whether Ukrainians interfered in the United
States’ 2016 elections – a topic Trump also broached with him during his July
phone call with the leader.
Zelenskiy said "we can't say yes or no" as to
whether there was any interference without an investigation.
A whistleblower's claim that Trump implied in the July 25
phone call that restoration of the aid would be conditioned on Ukraine
reopening a probe of Burisma Holdings and the Bidens' involvement in the matter
has prompted Democrats in the House to launch an impeachment inquiry. On
Tuesday, Fox News contributor John Solomon reported that the Ukrainian government had already ordered a
reopening of the probe of Burisma Holdings months before the two
presidents spoke by phone.
The military aid was later released to Ukraine, and
President Trump has denied the whistleblower's claims. The White House has also
refused to cooperate with what it claims is an unconstitutional impeachment effort by House Democrats.
The White House sent an eight-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
D-Calif., on Tuesday that read: "President Trump and his
administration reject your baseless, unconstitutional efforts to overturn the
democratic process. Your unprecedented actions have left the president with no
choice.
"In order to fulfill his duties to the American
people, the Constitution, the Executive Branch, and all future occupants of the
Office of the Presidency, President Trump and his administration cannot
participate in your partisan and unconstitutional inquiry under these
circumstances."
Zelensky, a 41-year-old actor, comedian and screenwriter
elected in May, has sought to reverse his country's image as a hotbed of
corruption. He told reporters Thursday that the main purpose of his
conversation with Trump was to set up a meeting with the American president and
show reform measures were in place in Ukraine.
"We just wanted to establish relations," he
said, adding at one point, "the story with Burisma has nothing to do with
weapons."
Trump and other Biden critics question how Hunter
Biden, who reportedly knew little about the energy business and the country,
ended up on Burisma’s board while his father was vice president and spearheaded
Ukraine relations under President Barack Obama. The elder Biden was later
recorded bragging about how he pressured Ukraine to oust a prosecutor who had
been looking into the company's founder, though Biden allies say this
intervention was driven by corruption concerns.
It is unclear how much money Hunter Biden made while
serving on the board of the firm, but reports have estimated he made up to $1
million per year.
The Associated Press contributed to this
report.
Greg Wilson is the managing editor for
FoxNews.com
