No, President Volodymyr Zelensky has not cleared President Trump of pressuring him to re-investigate Hunter Biden.
Yes, Zelensky suggested as much on Wednesday, saying, “We had a great phone call, it was normal.” But Zelensky had little choice but to offer those words.
Zelensky knows that he needs Trump’s support if he is to successfully resist Russian aggression and associated negotiation tactics. Those are critical concerns in light of Russia’s ongoing occupation of southeastern Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin’s emboldened sense that he can pressure Ukraine into a peace accord favorable to Russia. Putin’s confidence here is driven both by his grand ambition with Ukraine and a new Franco-German effort to push Zelensky into giving ground to Putin — something, incidentally, that both Trump and Zelensky explicitly noted in their July 25 phone call.
But like all foreign leaders, Zelensky is also aware that Trump’s value as a partner is matched inextricably to that partner’s deference to his personal priorities. He also knows the political controversy that Trump now faces in light of the suggestions that he pressured Ukraine to re-investigate Hunter Biden. He thus knows that to burn Trump in public would be to invite not just the president’s ire, but the possibility that Trump might wholly embrace Russian interests towards Ukraine.
Perhaps that’s unfair on Trump. Perhaps the president would put his own views aside and stand with Ukraine even after Zelensky’s admonishment. But there’s no way that the Ukrainian president can take that chance. His national interest demands he do everything in his power to retain Trump’s support (which has generally been generous).
Perhaps Zelensky is also telling the truth when he says he felt no pressure from Trump (though I doubt it). Regardless, the key here is that Zelensky is not going to burn Trump. It would risk disaster for his nation, where supporting Trump offers nothing but a little domestic embarrassment (Ukraine’s press recognize the presumption of pressure here).
