“Look, I never talked to the president from the position of a quid pro quo. That’s not my thing,” Mr. Zelensky said. “I don’t want us to look like beggars. But you have to understand: We’re at war. If you’re our strategic partner, then you can’t go blocking anything for us. I think that’s just about fairness. It’s not about a quid pro quo. It just goes without saying.”
Mr. Zelensky also pushed back on Mr. Trump’s repeated characterization of Ukraine as hopelessly corrupt, noting that such a narrative undermines international support for the country.
“When America says, for instance, that Ukraine is a corrupt country, that is the hardest of signals,” Mr. Zelensky said. “Everyone hears that signal. Investments, banks, stakeholders, companies, American, European, companies that have international capital in Ukraine — it’s a signal to them that says, ‘Be careful, don’t invest.’ Or, ‘Get out of there.’ This is a hard signal.”
Since the White House released a reconstructed transcript of the July 25 phone call between the two presidents, Mr. Zelensky has repeatedly denied that he felt pressured by Mr. Trump and has repeatedly stated his unwillingness to get involved in American politics.
“I was never pressured, and there were no conditions being imposed,” he said in October to Kyodo, a Japanese news service, adding that “Ukraine must not be embroiled in scandals connected with the presidential election.”
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Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/us/politics/trump-zelensky-fact-check.html
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