A transcript of telephone conversation between the presidents of the U.S. and Ukraine have revealed a deep dislike by U.S. President Donald Trump for French and German leaders, Yeni Safak reports.
Trump complained to Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy the U.S. "spends a lot of effort and time" on Ukraine while European countries "talk" but do nothing.
"Germany does almost nothing for you. All they do is talk and I think it's something that you should really ask them about," Trump told Zelenskyy during the call in July.
He said European countries are not helping Ukraine enough at a time when his administration is waging a trade war with the EU.
"When I was speaking to Angela Merkel she talks Ukraine, but she doesn't do anything. A lot of the European countries are the same way,” Trump said, in an apparent bid to pit Ukraine against its regional neighbors.
The call was made a few months after Zelenskyy's election victory. Details of the conversation have become the subject of an impeachment inquiry by congressional Democrats who said Trump abused his power to pressure the Ukrainian president to investigate a political rival.
Zelenskyy responded to Trump by saying he is "absolutely right" and "not only 100%, but actually 1,000%."
He said he talked to Merkel and [French President Emmanuel] Macron and told them "they are not doing quite as much as they need to be doing on the issues with the sanctions" against Russia.
"They are not enforcing the sanctions. They are not working as much as they should work for Ukraine," Zelenskyy said, agreeing with Trump.
