statement. . . . And it would have been natural for me to have voiced what I had presumed to Ambassador Taylor, Senator Johnson, the Ukrainians, and Mr. Morrison.[1]
Following media reports of Ambassador Sondland's addendum, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Prystaiko told the media that Ambassador Sondland had not linked the security assistance to Ukrainian action on investigations.[2] He said: "Ambassador Sondland did not tell us, and certainly did not tell me, about a connection between the assistance and the investigations."[3] Minister Prystaiko went further to say that he was never aware of any connection between security assistance and investigations: "I have never seen a direct relationship between investigations and security assistance. Yes, the investigations were mentioned, you know, in the conversation of the presidents. But there was no clear connection between these events."[4]
Senator Johnson explained that he had three meetings with senior Ukrainian government officials in June and July 2019.[5] Two of meetings were with Oleksandr Danylyuk, thensecretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, and Valeriy Chaly, thenllkrainian Ambassador to the U.S.[6] Senator Johnson said that none of the these Ukrainian officials raised any concerns with him about security assistance or investigations: "At no time during those meetings did anyone from Ukraine raise the issue of the withholding of military aid or express concerns regarding pressure being applied by the president or his administration."[7]
9. The Ukrainian government considered issuing a public anti-corruption statement to convey that President Zelensky was "serious and different" from previous Ukrainian regimes.
Evidence shows that in light of President Trump's deep-rooted skepticism about Ukraine, and working in tandem with senior U.S. officials, the Ukrainian government sought to convince President Trump that the new regime took corruption seriously. This commitment took two potential forms: a public statement that Ukraine would investigate corruption or a media interview about investigations. Although the parties later discussed the inclusion of specific investigations proposed by Mayor Giuliani, U.S. officials explained that the intent of the statement was to convey a public commitment to anti-corruption reform and that they did not associate the statement with an investigation of the President's political rival.
Ambassador Volker explained the goal of having Ukraine convey President Zelensky's commitment to reform and fighting corruption in a public message. He testified:
A. So the issue as I understood it was this deep-rooted, skeptical view of Ukraine, a negative view of Ukraine, preexisting 2019, you know,
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