U.S. President Donald Trump has said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko did not even know about the delay in U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
"Republicans & others must remember, the Ukrainian President and Foreign Minister both said that there was no pressure placed on them whatsoever. Also, they didn't even know the money wasn't paid, and got the money with no conditions. But why isn't Germany, France (Europe) paying?" Trump wrote on Twitter on November 17, 2019.
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As UNIAN reported earlier, a scandal erupted between the White House and U.S. Congress in the wake of media reports claiming that an intelligence whistleblower had filed a complaint with concerns about Trump's promise to a foreign leader in pursuit of his own political interests.
The media suggested that during a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25, Trump could repeatedly insist on Kyiv "looking into" the actions of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, now Trump's potential rival at the upcoming elections, and his son, Hunter Biden.
On September 21, members of U.S. Congress called on the Trump administration to provide the transcript of the U.S. president's conversation with Zelensky. On September 24, the White House published the unclassified memorandum of the July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelensky.
The document reads that Trump asked Zelensky to look into the case of Biden's son, Hunter, who had been part of the board of a Ukrainian gas firm.
On the same day, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi announced the formal launch of an impeachment inquiry.
