Zelensky to Trump: Stop Saying My Country Is Corrupt
The Ukrainian president begged Trump to stop referring to Ukraine as a corrupt country but thanked him for his support anyway.
Anastasia Vlasova/Getty
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that president Trump was wrong to call Ukraine one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Speaking with CNN at the Munich Security Conference, Zelensky said that Trump’s designation of Ukraine as the “third-most corrupt country in the world” was “not true.”
“When I had a meeting with President Trump and he said that in previous years [Ukraine] was such a corrupt country, I told him very honestly and I was very open with him,” Zelensky said. “I told him that we fight with corruption. We fight each day.” “Please, please stop saying that Ukraine is a corrupt country,” Zelensky said. “We want to change this image.”
During a July 2019 phone call, Trump asked Zelensky to investigate the dealings of Joe Biden’s son Hunter in Ukraine, a request that led to Trump’s eventual impeachment. Despite the tension, Zelensky said that the relationship between the United State and Ukraine was a good one. He thanked Trump for his support.
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