Ukraine's foreign minister says Trump did not press Zelensky

He said this in an interview with Hromadske.TV.

"We are an independent state. We have our own secrets. The president has the right to speak with another president so that this conversation remains unknown to anyone. This is the only prerequisite. The leaders still exchange important and often sensitive information. U.S. investigators have every right to turn to the U.S. and get this information. If anyone thinks that our president was under pressure, they should determine it. I know what the conversation was about and I think there was no pressure. There are different conversations, and the leaders have the right to discuss all existing problems. That conversation was long, friendly and it concerned many issues," Prystaiko said.

In his opinion, all suspicions that Ukraine was aiding the U.S. Democratic Party are the result of incomplete information. Prystaiko noted that people involved in Ukrainian-American relations understand that Ukraine has always tried to appreciate assistance from both parties.

"Indeed, the U.S. presidents have supported us, and we appreciate the support of Congress. But that does not mean that we would like to help one of the parties," the minister said.

A scandal erupted in the United States when a whistleblowing intelligence officer who processed a July phone call between Trump and a "foreign leader," who may be Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, filed a complaint to his leadership. He was worried by some of Trump's remarks that, according to U.S. media outlets, could be interpreted as pressure on the Ukrainian side to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who is on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

On September 20, The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that Trump had urged Zelensky about eight times to work with his lawyer Rudy Giuliani on an investigation into Biden's son, but had not offered anything in return.

Before the WSJ's article was published, Trump repeatedly denied talking about "something inappropriate" with the foreign leader. In addition, he told reporters at the White House that he had not discussed with Zelensky any issues regarding Biden.

op