Ukrainian President Says 'No Blackmail' in Phone Call With Trump

[Imperialism Inc.]

6. Not as if NYT is making it up.

It is being reported elsewhere too. Seems that Zelensky had a long press conference where it came up. I mean, don't shoot the messenger. Trump and the GOP are surely going use this and say there cant have been anything wrong since Zelensky didn't even know the money was being held up.

Ukraine president downplays Trump pressures in all-day media marathon
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/10/ukraine-president-trump-conversation-no-blackmail-043818

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Thursday there was “no blackmail” in the phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump that helped spark an impeachment inquiry.

Zelenskiy is trying to save his reputation and distance himself from the U.S. political drama. In an all-day “media marathon” held in a food court, he played down suggestions that Trump pressured him to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden in exchange for military aid to help Ukraine battle Russian-backed separatists.

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Responding to questions from The Associated Press, Zelenskiy said he only learned after their July 25 phone call that the U.S. had blocked hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine.

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“We didn’t speak about this” during the July call, Zelenskiy said.

“There was no blackmail.”
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