Zelensky did what he had to

In the spring of 2019, Vlodymyr Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine, by a large majority. Zelensky was a TV actor with little to no political experience who managed to connect with a large segment of the Ukrainian people. The political message that got him elected was his promise to fight corruption.

In Ukraine, corruption often takes the form of offering money or coercion to get the criminal justice system to investigate someone who offended some powerful person.

Imagine the conflict Zelensky must have felt when Trump told him, on July 25, that we would help out with military aid but “I need a favor, though.” On one hand, the Russians had invaded and occupied his country and he desperately needed the aid. On the other, the president of the U.S. was talking exactly like a Ukrainian mobster demanding a political investigation of his rival. It appears that Zelensky was willing to do whatever it took to save his country until the whistle blower report came out.

Terry Sawyer

Spokane