President Volodymyr Zelensky plans to visit Washington D.C. in September to meet with his American counterpart, Donald Trump.
Zelensky announced it on Aug. 3 during a visit to Truskavets, a city in western Ukraine, where he was meeting with the newly-elected lawmakers from his party.
“The meeting with President Trump should happen in September. In Washington D.C.,” he said, according to Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
It would be the first-ever meeting between the two leaders who have often been compared by observers for being anti-establishment politicians, known for their informal behavior, overuse of social media and distrust to the traditional media.
Zelensky and Trump have spoken twice by phone — on the election night on April 21, when Trump congratulated Zelensky with winning the presidential race, and on July 25, days after the parliamentary elections, where Zelensky’s party received a landslide victory.
Nevertheless, the time of Zelensky’s first visit to the U.S. remained unclear. Some recent events could have marred the relations between him and Trump.
Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani canceled his trip to Ukraine in May saying to Fox News he would be “walking into a group of people that are enemies of the president (Trump).” Giuliani had planned to meet Zelensky and push him for investigation of Burisma gas company, which involves Hunter Biden, son of the former U.S. vice-president Joe Biden and likely Trump’s competitor at 2020 elections. Zelensky reportedly refused the meeting, not willing to be involved in the U.S. domestic politics.
The U.S. representatives from all political sides also reportedly advised Zelensky not to appoint Andriy Bohdan as presidential chief of staff. Bohdan was a lawyer of oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, who is now under FBI investigation for money laundering and other financial crimes. Zelensky repeatedly claimed he is not being influenced by Kolomoisky but keeps Bohdan on his team regardless of all criticism.
Both presidents are yet to pick the ambassadors in Kyiv and Washington D.C. Currently, the U.S. mission to Ukraine is headed by William Taylor, who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in 2006-2009 and now serves as chargé d’affaires for the transition period.
Oleksandr Danylyuk, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, said that the two presidents will be discussing mostly security issues at the future meeting.
“Security issues compose about 80 percent of the agenda between the United States and Ukraine,” he said in the interview to Radio NV on Aug. 2.
Zelensky also offered on July 3 to remove visas to several countries whose residents often come to Ukraine for medical treatment, in order to develop medical tourism in Ukraine. He didn’t specify which countries they are.
“We can form a list of countries whose residents often come to Ukraine for treatment and cancel visas for them,” he said, speaking in Truskavets, a popular mineral water resort.
