Ukraine's leader: Trump didn't use U.S. aid lever

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's president said Tuesday no one explained to him why millions of dollars in U.S. military aid to his country was delayed, dismissing suggestions President Donald Trump froze the funding to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is struggling to distance himself from U.S. politics -- and to contain the damage to Ukraine and his own reputation from a July phone conversation with Trump unleashing a congressional impeachment inquiry.

"It is impossible to put pressure on me," he told reporters Tuesday. "Many people try to influence me," he said, but "I am the president of independent Ukraine."

Zelenskiy said in discussions with Trump, he repeatedly stressed the importance of U.S. military aid to help Ukraine battle Russian-backed separatists.

In the July call, he thanked Trump for his "great support in the area of defense" and said Ukraine was ready to "cooperate for the next steps," according to a rough transcript released by the White House. Zelenskiy suggested Tuesday military aid was raised in other discussions, but didn't say when they took place.

The Pentagon announced plans in June to send $250 million in aid to Ukraine, but its delivery was delayed. A defense official said last week the Trump administration held up the money to analyze the extent to which Ukraine was addressing long-standing U.S. concerns about corruption.

The funding was then released in September.

"It wasn't explained to me" why the money didn't come through earlier, Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy also said he has never met or spoken with Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has been at the heart of Trump's effort to investigate Biden. According to the transcript of their conversation, Trump told Zelenskiy he would have Giuliani call him about pursuing an inquiry into the role of Biden's son Hunter on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma.

Zelenskiy is facing a dilemma over how to handle Trump's request in the July call for Ukraine to "look into" the Bidens.

If Ukraine opens an investigation into the case, that helps Trump and the Republicans. If it doesn't, that helps the Democrats. And what Ukraine's current leadership really wants is continued U.S. support, no matter who wins next year's U.S. elections.

Ukraine "is the key ball in the political football between Democrats and Republicans," said anti-corruption activist Daria Kaleniuk. "We are in the middle of a very hot fight to which we don't belong."

"Ukraine is now in a very dangerous situation. We are in a country at war," she added.

For Zelenskiy and many Ukrainians, solving Ukraine's conflict with Russian-backed separatists is more important than whatever happens in the U.S. election campaign. Zelenskiy scheduled Tuesday's news conference to announce much-anticipated accords paving the way for peace talks with Moscow, and bristled when some journalists asked him about Trump instead.