Ukraine’s leader says his country can’t be ordered to investigate Biden

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president says his country can’t be pressured into opening an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden or his son.

And both Ukraine and rival Russia are pushing back at the White House for releasing a transcript of a private phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and another world leader.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is trying to contain damage at home and abroad after the world learned last week that Trump pushed him to “look into” Biden and his son Hunter, who served on the board of a troubled Ukrainian gas company.

“We cannot be ordered to do anything. We are an independent country,” Zelenskiy told reporters Monday during a visit to a Ukrainian military base, when asked about Trump’s request.

“We are open, we are ready to investigate, but it has nothing to do with me. Our independent law enforcement agencies are ready to investigate any violations of the law,” he said.

He didn’t elaborate on what could trigger an eventual probe.

The Ukrainian president reiterated his criticism of the White House decision to release a rough transcript of the July phone call in which Trump discussed the Bidens with Zelenskiy. The call sparked a Congressional impeachment inquiry now dominating the U.S. political landscape.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine would probably not release its own transcript of the call, because “there are certain nuances and things that I think would be wrong to publish.”

The political furore over the Trump-Zelenskiy call has come as a severe test for Zelenskiy, a comedian who promised to uproot Ukraine’s endemic corruption and end fighting with Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine’s east.

The transcript portrays Zelenskiy as flattering Trump and trying to stay in his good graces.

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