President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the provision of military assistance to Ukraine by the United States was after meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence in Warsaw, and the issue of assistance was not raised in a telephone conversation with President of the United States Donald Trump.
"Our phone conversation bears no relation to arms," the President said during a press marathon.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the provision of military assistance to Ukraine had been suspended in July, but this issue was not the subject of his conversation with Donald Trump.
"They blocked (the provision of military assistance. - Ed.) prior to our telephone conversation, but the issue had not been discussed during the conversation. I mean, I didn't even know. Then we spoke with the Minister of Defense, and he said we had a problem, they had blocked the money. When we spoke with Donald Trump, this issue was not discussed at all," the President said.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, when the Minister of Defense announced the issue of freezing military assistance, he knew he would discuss the issue during a meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence in Warsaw in the framework of participation in memorial events of the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of Start of World War II.
"We were speaking and I told him that it was impossible, please influence it, and we were expecting a decision from the US. We had a meeting, it was substantive and very good, and after our meeting, America unlocked and provided an additional $ 140 million. Therefore, there was no blackmail because it was not the subject of our conversation (with the President of the United States. - Ed.)," the Head of State emphasized.
According to him, the main accents of the telephone conversation with Donald Trump concerned the reconstruction of intensive dialogue between Ukraine and the USA. "I wanted strong support from the US, I really wanted to meet, and there were no conditions of the meeting - either because of arms or situation around Burisma company. We just had to get relationship back on track, it had to be the first meeting," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The President also stated that he intended to invite Donald Trump to visit Ukraine to talk with representatives of the Ukrainian authorities and see Ukraine with his own eyes.
The Head of State planned to announce such a proposal during a meeting with the President of the United States, which had to be held in the capital of Poland. But after the change of the United States representative at the events in Warsaw, a meeting of the Presidents of the two countries was planned and held in New York.
