The president of Ukraine, at the center of a furious political battle between President Trump and Democratic front-runner Joseph R. Biden, said Tuesday he respects Mr. Trump and wants the unceasing support of the U.S.
“We respect the president of the United States,” President Volodymyr Zelensky told Voice of America in an interview at the United Nations. “We just want the U.S. to always support Ukraine and Ukraine’s course in its fight against aggression and war. It seems to me that it is so. And everything seems to lead to this.”
Mr. Zelensky, who is scheduled to meet with Mr. Trump one-on-one at the U.N. on Wednesday, said, “I think our meeting will be very warm.”
Mr. Trump denied reports Tuesday that he pressured Mr. Zelensky in a phone call on July 25 to investigate Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, and his lucrative connections with a Ukrainian gas company. Democrats are threatening impeachment over accusations that Mr. Trump tried to withhold $391 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine, an allegation that Mr. Trump denies.
Mr. Zelensky told VOA that his independent nation is “ready for everything.”
“We don’t need just help,” he said. “We are already a strong state, the greatest. … The biggest country in Europe, and we have very smart people.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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