Andriy Yermak, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has recently met
Rudolph W. Giuliani, US President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, in Madrid, according to The New York Times.
They discussed the Ukrainian president's planned visit to the USA and two matters of interest to Trump.
"One is whether Ukrainian officials took steps during the 2016 election to damage Mr. Trump’s campaign. The other is whether there was anything improper about the overlap between former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s diplomatic efforts in Ukraine and his son’s role with a gas company there," the newspaper said.
Giuliani acknowledged that he had "strongly urged" Yermak to "just investigate the darn things". He said he came away from his interactions with Yermak "pretty confident they’re going to investigate it".
Giuliani said he was acting on his own as a private citizen, with the knowledge and assistance of the State Department. He would not say whether Trump approved — or is aware of — the effort.
In interviews this month, Yermak, a lawyer and former television producer who has known Zelenskyy for years, said he discussed with Giuliani both the possible heads of state meeting and the investigations. But he said they did not discuss a link between the two.
"He said he's very interested in seeing the new Ukrainian government being open and openly investigating all these cases," Yermak said.
Ukraine became one of the factors in the US election campaign because Joe Biden can become one of the main competitors of Trump in the presidential election.
Biden's son Hunter was on the board of directors at Burisma Holding owned by former Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Mykola Zlochevskyy. Zlochevskyy was suspected of embezzlement but the case was closed in February 2018.