Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is sharing what he says was the “one unpleasant thing” for him related to the 2019 impeachment of former President Donald Trump.
As allegations swirled that Trump had improperly pressured Zelensky to open an investigation into then-candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, Trump released the transcript of a July 25, 2019, phone call he had with the Ukrainian leader.
Trump would later point to the transcript of the “perfect” call and claim that it discredited the allegations that he improperly pressured Zelensky.
During an interview with Axios’ Jonathan Swan, Zelensky was asked what he was thinking amid the impeachment effort.
He said, “I read that Trump put ‘pressure,’ pressure? Well, I was very offended to hear this.”
“Why? Because I am the president of Ukraine. We may be smaller than the United States. But we are an independent Ukraine. We proved this to Russia when we kept our terrority. We continue to prove we are an independent country. This is why he did not pressure me. I will never say that.”
However, he said there was “one unpleasant thing” from the impeachment effort that he has not spoken about publicly before: Trump’s decision to release the transcript of their call in 2019.
“I think this is very wrong. And it was not Ukraine who made it public. I would never let that happen,” he said.
“This conversation was the first serious conversation between two presidents — between strategic partners. And, in any case, neither of us had the right to make such things public because these are personal things.”
He added, “I believe that this simply should not have happened. I believe that was wrong.”
Watch the video below:
Ukrainian president @ZelenskyyUa tells @jonathanvswan on #AxiosOnHBO he thinks it was “very wrong” that his infamous call with Trump, that led to Trump’s first impeachment, was published: “Neither of us had the right to make such things public because these are personal things.” pic.twitter.com/lbzYSsNkts
— Axios (@axios) February 1, 2021
When asked if he was “a little bit” angry with Trump, Zelensky responded, “A little bit?” He let out a little chuck after.
Swan said, “You must have been thinking, ‘What in God’s name is happening here?'”
“Honestly, I didn’t see it like that,” Zelensky said. “For me, the most important thing was to preserve our relationship. For me, it was most important to hear that we, as countries, support each other.”
Trump was impeached in December 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress stemming from allegations that he withheld military aid to Ukraine to pressure investigators there to open an investigation into the Bidens.
However, he was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020.
