search
Sections List
American Journal News

Ukrainian leader felt pressured by Trump to investigate Biden before taking office

Zelensky was reportedly concerned about navigating requests from Giuliani to investigate Trump’s 2020 rival as early as May this year.

By Associated Press - October 23, 2019
Share
Volodymyr Zelensky

More than two months before the phone call that launched the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, Ukraine’s newly elected leader was already worried about pressure from the U.S. president to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Volodymyr Zelensky gathered a small group of advisers on May 7 in Kyiv for a meeting that was supposed to be about his nation’s energy needs. Instead, the group spent most of the three-hour discussion talking about how to navigate the insistence from Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, for a probe and how to avoid becoming entangled in the American elections, according to three people familiar with the details of the meeting.

They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue, which has roiled U.S.-Ukrainian relations.

The meeting came before Zelensky was inaugurated but about two weeks after Trump called to offer his congratulations on the night of the Ukrainian leader’s April 21 election.

The full details of what the two leaders discussed in that Easter Sunday phone call have never been publicly disclosed, and it is not clear whether Trump explicitly asked for an investigation of the Bidens at that time.

The three people’s recollections differ on whether Zelensky specifically cited that first call with Trump as the source of his unease. But their accounts all show the Ukrainian president-elect was wary of Trump’s push for an investigation into the former vice president and his son Hunter’s business dealings.

Either way, the newly elected leader of a country wedged between Russia and the U.S.-aligned NATO democracies knew early on that vital military support might depend on whether he was willing to choose a side in an American political tussle. A former comedian who won office on promises to clean up corruption, Zelensky’s first major foreign policy test came not from his enemy Russia, but rather from the country’s most important ally, the United States.

The May 7 meeting included two of his top aides, Andriy Yermak and Andriy Bogdan, the people said. Also in the room was Andriy Kobolyev, head of the state-owned natural gas company Naftogaz, and Amos Hochstein, an American who sits on the Ukrainian company’s supervisory board. Hochstein is a former diplomat who advised Biden on Ukraine matters during the Obama administration.

Zelensky’s office in Kyiv did not respond to messages on Wednesday seeking comment. The White House would not comment on whether Trump demanded an investigation in the April 21 call.

The White House has offered only a bare-bones public readout on the April call, saying Trump urged Zelensky and the Ukrainian people to implement reforms, increase prosperity and “root out corruption.’ In the intervening months, Trump and his proxies have frequently used the word “corruption” to reference the months long efforts to get the Ukrainians to investigate Democrats.

Trump has said he would release a transcript of the first call, but the White House had no comment Wednesday on when, or if, that might happen.

After news broke that a White House whistleblower had filed a complaint about his July 25 call with Zelensky, Trump said the conversation was “perfect” and that he had asked his Ukrainian counterpart to do “whatever he can in terms of corruption because the corruption is massive.”

During the call, Trump asked Zelensky for “a favor” and then told him he should investigate Biden and his son. Trump then advised Zelensky that Giuliani and Attorney General Bill Barr would be contacting him about the request, according to a summary of the called released by the White House.

Within days, Giuliani flew to Madrid to meet privately with Yermak, Zelensky’s aide who was in the May 7 meeting.

Trump has denied that an investigation of Biden was a condition for releasing military aid as a quid pro quo. But on Tuesday, the senior U.S. diplomat in Ukraine at the time, Ambassador Bill Taylor, starkly contradicted the president, saying that Trump had demanded that everything Zelensky wanted, including the aid and a White House meeting, was conditional on a public vow that he would open an investigation.

Taylor also detailed multiple previously undisclosed diplomatic interactions between Trump’s envoys and senior Ukrainian officials in which the president’s demand to investigate the Bidens in exchange for American aid was clear.

The continued flow of high-tech U.S. weaponry is seen as essential to the survival of the Ukrainian government, which has been mired in a long-running civil war with Russian-aligned separatists in the east of the county. In 2014, masked Russian troops took control of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Russia later annexed it, provoking Western sanctions against Moscow.

In a joint Sept. 25 news conference with Trump at the United Nations in New York, Zelensky denied he felt pressured to investigate the Bidens.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be involved, to democratic, open elections of U.S.A.,” the Ukrainian leader said. “We had, I think, good phone call. It was normal. We spoke about many things, and I think, and you read it, that nobody push it. Push me.”

Trump then chimed in: “In other words, no pressure.”

Before Zelensky was elected, however, a public campaign to initiate investigations into the Bidens was already underway.

For weeks, conservative media outlets in the U.S. had trumpeted unfounded accusations that Biden, the Obama administration’s top envoy to the war-torn former Soviet republic, had sought the removal of the country’s top prosecutor in order to stymie an investigation in Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company that later hired his son to serve on its board.

Both Trump and Giuliani made public comments and tweets referencing the Biden accusations, with the president’s lawyer suggesting in a Fox News interview on April 7 that the U.S. Justice Department should investigate the matter.

One day before Zelensky’s May 7 meeting with his advisers, the U.S. State Department recalled Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, a career diplomat with a reputation for combating corruption. Yovanovitch had been the target of a sustained yearlong smear campaign by Giuliani and his associates.

When Trump called Zelenskiy on July 25 to congratulate the Ukrainian president on “a great victory” after his Servant of the People party won control of Ukrainian parliament, Zelensky downplayed his discomfort.

“The first time, you called me to congratulate me when I won my presidential election, and the second time you are now calling me when my party won the parliamentary election,” Zelensky said, according to the rough transcript. “”I think I should run more often so you can call me more often, and we can talk over the phone more often.”


AJ News
Subscribe to our newsletter.
Read More
AJ News
Latest
Trump White House plans to garnish wages of student loan borrowers

Trump White House plans to garnish wages of student loan borrowers

By Jesse Valentine - April 22, 2025
Megadonor embroiled in ethics scandal gave thousands to Winsome Earle-Sears

Megadonor embroiled in ethics scandal gave thousands to Winsome Earle-Sears

By Jesse Valentine - April 21, 2025
“I Was Terrified To Get Pregnant Again After Having to Flee Tennessee for a Life-Saving Abortion”

“I Was Terrified To Get Pregnant Again After Having to Flee Tennessee for a Life-Saving Abortion”

By Bonnie Fuller - April 21, 2025
Goldman Sachs: Trump’s tariffs will lead to job losses

Goldman Sachs: Trump’s tariffs will lead to job losses

By Jesse Valentine - April 17, 2025
Democrats take stand for wrongly deported Maryland man

Democrats take stand for wrongly deported Maryland man

By Jesse Valentine - April 16, 2025
North Carolina law would make it illegal for Democratic AG to sue Trump

North Carolina law would make it illegal for Democratic AG to sue Trump

By Jesse Valentine - April 11, 2025
Older Americans suffer under Republican slash and burn policies

Older Americans suffer under Republican slash and burn policies

By Jesse Valentine - April 09, 2025
Scott Brown got Trump’s tariff plans for New Zealand very wrong

Scott Brown got Trump’s tariff plans for New Zealand very wrong

By Jesse Valentine - April 08, 2025
Trump admin canceled Social Security contracts to punish Maine governor

Trump admin canceled Social Security contracts to punish Maine governor

By Jesse Valentine - April 03, 2025
Senate Republicans vote to eliminate cap on overdraft fees

Senate Republicans vote to eliminate cap on overdraft fees

By Jesse Valentine - April 03, 2025
Forced to carry a dying baby, this Texas mother of four says she didn’t think it could happen to her

Forced to carry a dying baby, this Texas mother of four says she didn’t think it could happen to her

By Bonnie Fuller - March 28, 2025
Despite pleas from women and doctors, Texas may implement even more abortion restrictions

Despite pleas from women and doctors, Texas may implement even more abortion restrictions

By Bonnie Fuller - March 28, 2025
Trump’s antiwar claims don’t hold up in leaked group chat

Trump’s antiwar claims don’t hold up in leaked group chat

By Jesse Valentine - March 28, 2025
Frontline Republican governors cheer on Department of Ed closure

Frontline Republican governors cheer on Department of Ed closure

By Jesse Valentine - March 26, 2025
GOP-led legislatures ramp up abortion restrictions

GOP-led legislatures ramp up abortion restrictions

By Jesse Valentine - March 18, 2025
HHS slashes vaccine research, amplifies misinformation

HHS slashes vaccine research, amplifies misinformation

By Jesse Valentine - March 11, 2025
Senate Republicans scrap consumer protections for payment apps

Senate Republicans scrap consumer protections for payment apps

By Jesse Valentine - March 10, 2025
Rep. Don Bacon admits he voted for Medicaid cuts

Rep. Don Bacon admits he voted for Medicaid cuts

By - February 28, 2025
Trump admin cracks down on affordable weight-loss treatments

Trump admin cracks down on affordable weight-loss treatments

By Jesse Valentine - February 27, 2025
Republican lawmakers are lying about Medicaid fraud

Republican lawmakers are lying about Medicaid fraud

By Jesse Valentine - February 26, 2025
Trump’s education pick: schools may lose funds for teaching Black history

Trump’s education pick: schools may lose funds for teaching Black history

By Jesse Valentine - February 13, 2025
JD Vance defends DOGE staffer who promoted eugenics 

JD Vance defends DOGE staffer who promoted eugenics 

By Jesse Valentine - February 10, 2025