Poroshenko says he met twice with Giuliani – media
Ukraine's fifth President Petro Poroshenko (2014-2019) has said he twice met with Rudy (Rudolph) Giuliani, the personal lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump. Poroshenko said Giuliani promised him to increase the level of cooperation between Ukraine and the United States in the field of cybersecurity, the Ukrainian edition of the U.S.-government Voice of America has said.
"Mr. Giuliani promised me to raise the level of our cooperation in cybersecurity," Poroshenko said during the Forum on International Security in Canada.
Responding to a clarifying question about whether Giuliani asked for something in return, Poroshenko replied: "Look, I'm the president of Ukraine, a great European nation, a large European country, the largest in Europe by territory. And, of course, I can't imagine this type conversation with me as with the president of Ukraine."
According to him, the lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump did not raise the issue of investigation regarding the Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma or former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden during the two meetings.
At the same time, Poroshenko said that he considers the Russian side interested in the so-called Ukraine-gate scandal.
"Who is interested in not seeing Ukraine as an object of Russian aggression, which caused sanctions against Russia until it leaves Ukrainian territory? Now we turn our attention to the so-called Ukraine-gate scandal. Who is interested in this? Ukraine? Definitely not. The United States? Definitely not. There is only one person, who is sitting in Russia (who is interested in this)," Poroshenko said.
Poroshenko said almost 70% of Ukrainians want Ukraine to join the EU.
"Today we are one of the most European-optimistic nations in Europe. Therefore, it is so important that the doors of the European Union remain open for us. Because it is a motivating factor," he said.
Poroshenko urged the international community not to forget about Russian aggression against Ukraine and noted that Europe cannot be safe until Ukraine becomes a member of NATO.
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on September 24 initiated an impeachment inquiry against Trump following a whistleblower report of the July 25, 2019 telephone conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The memorandum of the call shows Trump asking Zelensky the investigation into the son of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, his likely opponent in the 2020 U.S. presidential elections, and his son Hunter.