Vladimir Zelensky said that he did not want Ukraine or its citizens to be involved in the internal politics of the United States. He said this in an interview with Times of Israel.

“My approach has been and remains that way - to prevent the involvement of Ukraine or any of the Ukrainians in the political situation in the United States. They have their own country, and they decide how to deal with it. I don’t want them to drag us into any matters related to their domestic policy, ”said the Ukrainian president.

So Zelensky answered the question about his role in the US domestic political scandal, which led to the beginning of the impeachment procedure of President Donald Trump.

“I have not done anything illegal. I had telephone conversations with the US president. As President of Ukraine, I have done everything possible to ensure that we have good, reliable and strong relations with the United States of America, one of our strategic partners, ”Zelensky emphasized.

Unsuccessful conversation

Recall that an impeachment procedure was initiated against Donald Trump after his telephone conversation with Vladimir Zelensky, which took place in the summer of 2019. According to the US House of Representatives, during a conversation with Zelensky, Trump asked him to investigate the activities of Joe Biden and his son Hunter in Ukraine.

  • Donald trump
  • Reuters
  • © Kevin Lamarque

In order to get incriminating evidence from the Zelensky administration on Biden, who is Trump’s most likely opponent in the 2020 election, the 45th U.S. president allegedly suspended $ 391 million in military assistance to Kiev. Also, according to the House of Representatives, Trump put pressure on Zelensky to “consult with his personal lawyer Rudi Giuliani,” who was actively lobbying for an investigation into Biden’s activities in Ukraine and his son’s ties with the oil and gas company Burisma Holdings.

In April 2019, the American publication The Hill published an investigation stating that it was Joe Biden, who was the US Vice President and Special Representative for Ukraine, who secured the resignation of the country's Attorney General Victor Shokin. The reason for this was allegedly the plans of the Ukrainian prosecutor general to investigate the corrupt activities of Burisma, whose board of directors included Hunter Biden.

Before the House of Representatives voted on January 15 to transfer impeachment articles to the Senate, Democrats in Congress published excerpts from Giuliani’s personal correspondence with an American businessman of Ukrainian origin Lev Parnassus. So, among them is the following entry: “Convince Zelensky to announce that Biden’s case will be investigated.”

Donald Trump and his administration deny that the freezing of military assistance to Kiev was related to his request to Zelensky to start an investigation against the Biden, and argue that the White House’s decision to stop the transfer of funds was associated with a high level of corruption in Ukraine.

"Tired relationship"

All this time, Vladimir Zelensky consistently distanced himself from the issue of impeachment by Donald Trump and stated that during their telephone conversation there was no pressure on him.

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  • AFP
  • © Saul Loeb

So, during the press marathon, which took place on October 10, 2019, Zelensky said that he was not ashamed of the publicly announced telephone conversation with the US president.

“I’m not ashamed of any word I said ... I didn’t want to offend anyone ... and I don’t see any problems regarding the results of the publication of the conversation,” the President of Ukraine emphasized.

At the same time, he noted that the mere fact that the White House published their conversation with Trump “slightly undermines any diplomatic relations in general.”

The Ukrainian leader added that relations between Kiev and Washington were "tired", and the publication of this telephone conversation and the subsequent domestic political scandal in the United States did not affect them. At the same time, Zelensky again repeated that his negotiations with Trump had nothing to do with the issue of the investigation against Burisma and the supply of US military assistance.

Zelensky also emphasized that the issue of providing any evidence or testimony from him as part of impeachment is excluded, since he is the president of an independent country.

“I have not violated any law of Ukraine and international law. As President of Ukraine, I don’t understand what I have to testify in another country and why they should use me as an influence on decisions and results of future elections, ”said Vladimir Zelensky.

However, some statements by the Ukrainian leader indicate that Zelensky “is trying to sit on two chairs,” said political analyst Anna Aryamova.

“He is trying to maintain Washington’s patronage, but at the same time he doesn’t want Ukraine to be used as a bargaining chip in the US election race,” the expert explained.

“Such a merger with the political cuisine of the United States is always dangerous, because the state loses its independence, becomes a toy in the hands of various political forces,” adds Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries.

Inheritance problems

In many ways, the difficult situation in which the team of the new president of Ukraine found himself is a consequence of the activities of his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, said Anna Aryamova, commenting on the new statements of Zelensky regarding the impeachment of Trump in a conversation with RT.

“Ukraine is now in a rather difficult situation on all counts, and Zelensky, who does not have a political background and experienced politicians in his circle, has to steer out of it to the best of his ability. Such moments will still arise, because Ukraine needs to find itself again in the foreign political arena and at the same time not to anger Washington, but also try to build constructive relations with Russia, ”the political scientist noted.

In turn, Vladimir Zharikhin believes that even an inexperienced politician will reject the status of Ukraine as a “passive participant in US internal political processes.” In addition, these processes, the expert added, are also being transferred to the domestic political field of Ukraine itself, which destabilizes the situation inside the country.

“ Today in the United States, political forces are in stiff confrontation with each other, so those who approach this American political space are under intense pressure. Zelensky feels the danger of engaging Washington in domestic political processes, but at the same time, the desire to be an ally of the United States and receive preferences from them is stronger , ”concluded Vladimir Zharikhin.