In contrast, Ukrainian officials have said little about the proceedings to remove Trump from office. Here are 10 things they have commented (or not) so far about that phone call and the inquiry.
- Will not testify before Congress
Ukraine’s foreign minister Vadym Prystaiko said in late October that officials from his country will not testify in the United States—unless they are forced through via an official summons.
“We don’t have any connection to this,” Prystaiko told reporters at an investment conference in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. “They should deal with it themselves. We won’t go there, we won’t comment.”
- No requests for information
Ukrainian officials said they have not received any formal requests from Congress or the White House for information regarding Trump’s impeachment inquiry.
- ‘We could tell them if they ask us’
Prystaiko was asked if Ukraine would disclose anything regarding communications between its officials and American officials.
“We could tell them if they ask us,” he said.
- Downplaying
Prystaiko has said it is normal for two countries to engage in diplomacy through informal channels. Trump’s controversial July 25 phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy requesting the Biden investigation came to light following a whistleblower complaint in late September. The whistleblower said that he learned through several White House officials that a transcript of the call was placed in a computer system for top intelligence information. The president’s private phone conversations are not always classified and officials are not allowed to classify information that is sensitive or problematic to the president.
Zelensky also downplayed the call, saying it was one of “many cases that I talk about with leaders of other countries.”
The White House released a rough transcript of Trump’s call later in September.
- Call transcript ‘shouldn’t be published’
Zelensky was not pleased that the rough transcript of his private call with Trump was published by the White House that led House Democrats to begin the impeachment inquiry. Ukraine’s president also did not say whether the Trump administration informed him beforehand that they would be releasing it.
“I think such things, such conversations between heads of independent states, they shouldn’t be published,” Zelensky told reporters at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in late September.
- ‘No one can pressure me’
During his United Nations visit, Zelensky also said “no one can pressure me,” regarding the phone call and Ukraine’s possible involvement in impeachment-related matters. He also said he was “not afraid” of the transcript being published.
- Denying knowledge of details
Regarding an investigation on Biden, Zelensky also told reporters: “I don’t know the details of this case.” He acknowledged it was “high-profile,” but said it was not uncommon and that he had similar conversations with leaders of Turkey and Italy.
“Different leaders talk to me at many international meetings about various criminal cases,” Zelensky said. “I talk about such cases every day.”
- Distancing from related investigations
Prystaiko has been reluctant to having Ukraine’s presidential administration address questions about a possible probe into the natural gas company Burisma Holdings, for which Biden’s son, Hunter, served as a board member while his father Joe was U.S. vice president and led policy work with Ukraine. That has drawn accusations of conflict of interest.
Prystaiko has fielded questions on the possibility of an investigation into the matter to the country’s general prosecutor.
- No damage
Prystaiko has said that relations between Ukraine and the U.S. has not been negatively impacted by Trump’s scandal and impeachment.
- No comment
Among Ukrainian officials who declined to comment after the White House released a rough transcript of the phone call are were prosecutor general and former President Petro Poroshenko, who served until just two months before the July call.
