KYIV, Aug. 9 - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that it was a matter of Ukraine’s national security to stay out of U.S. internal politics, particularly its election, Reuters reported.
“Ukraine did not and will not allow itself to interfere in the elections and thus harm our trusting and sincere partnership with the USA,” he wrote on Twitter late on Saturday.
Zelenskiy, 42, was a comic actor when he won a landslide election last year. But the first year of his presidency was overshadowed by Ukraine’s unwitting involvement in events that led to the impeachment of Republican U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump had unsuccessfully pressed Ukraine to launch an investigation into his Democratic rival in the 2020 presidential race, former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Never, under any circumstances, it’s acceptable to meddle in another country’s sovereign elections,” Zelenskiy wrote.
Zelenskiy appealed to Ukrainian politicians to avoid any actions that could be linked to U.S. elections, nor allow themselves to try to solve any of their personal, political or business problems that way.
“Ukraine’s reputation is worth much more than the reputation of any of our politicians,” the president said.
Earlier this week, Zelenskiy told Reuters that he hoped U.S. support for Ukraine would remain strong regardless of who wins the American election.
Republican and Democratic U.S. senators last month introduced legislation to back Ukraine with $300 million of annual military financing and other support.
The bill was introduced by the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chairman Jim Risch and ranking member Bob Menendez, along with Republicans Rob Portman and John Barrasso and Democratic committee members Chris Murphy and Jeanne Shaheen.
The bill also authorizes up to $4 million to train Ukrainian military officers, requires a Department of Defense and State Department report on the requirements of Ukraine's armed forces and a plan to supply security assistance and requires the appointment of a special envoy for Ukraine. (rt/ez)
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