Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated Thursday he felt no pressure to look into allegations of corruption against former vice president and 2020 candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, during a summer telephone call with President Donald Trump.
“There was no blackmail,” Zelensky told reporters when asked about the July 25th call. “We are not servants. We are an independent country.”
“I don’t want to be pulled into this because I understand that my words could impact the elections of the American people,” he added.
Zelensky’s comments come as President Trump has said he has the “absolute right” to suggest world leaders probe corruption in other countries, including the activities of the Bidens in Ukraine and China.
“China should start an investigation into the Bidens, because what happened in China is just about as bad as Ukraine,” the president told reporters last week ahead of a visit to Florida to deliver remarks on Medicare.
As Breitbart News reported, Hunter Biden’s investment firm locked down a $1.5 billion investment deal with the Bank of China after traveling with his father on Air Force Two to the country in 2013.
Asked if Ukraine should also probe the Bidens, the president affirmed: “I would think that if they were honest about it, they would start a major investigation,” before adding, “Nobody has any doubt that they weren’t crooked; that was a crooked deal, 100 percent.”
As Breitbart News reported earlier this year:
Biden forced out former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin as he was investigating an energy company called Burisma Holdings, which was paying Biden [$83,000 monthly] as a member of its board. The former vice president even boasted to the Council of Foreign Relations last year that he had threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid unless the prosecutor was fired. (He did not tell the audience about his son’s role.)
Meanwhile, former Vice President Biden has denied he or his son committed any wrongdoing, lashing out at a reporter when asked about the subject last week.
During tense exchange at campaign stop in Los Angeles, the former vice president was pressed on whether Hunter Biden’s role on the board of directors of Burisma Holdings, posed a conflict of interest while he was in government.
“It’s not a conflict of interest,” Biden scoffed, before raising his voice. “There’s been no indication of any conflict of interest, from Ukraine or anywhere else, period. I’m not going to respond to that.”
“Let’s focus on the problem, focus on this man, what he’s doing, that no president has ever done,” he shouted while pointing his finger at the reporter.
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