Pompeo says Zelensky White House meeting will happen at 'right time'

Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday the White House will "find the right time" to invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington for a meeting with President Donald Trump.

He said there were no conditions on such a meeting despite allegations Trump withheld a face-to-face and millions in military aid from Ukraine pending Zelensky's announcement of an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

Pompeo made the remarks in Kiev after his own meeting with Zelensky.

"President Zelensky will be welcome to come to Washington when we have an opportunity to do good things for both the Ukrainian people and the American people. We'll get it done."

Zelensky told reporters in the joint news conference that there were no hard feelings between the two countries despite a July phone call between the two presidents that sparked Trump's impeachment trial.

"It seems to me it's the other way around," Zelensky said. "We have excellent relations between our countries."

The July phone conversation in question was made public in a whistle-blower complaint to the office of the director of national intelligence. The complaint said Trump made a "promise" to Zelensky.

Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have both publicly said they have encouraged Ukraine to carry out an investigation into the two Bidens They accused the former vice president of pressuring Ukraine to fire Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was investigating a company for which Hunter Biden served on the board, Burisma.

Shokin's successor, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko told Bloomberg in May that the investigation into the company began before Hunter Biden joined the board, and he wasn't specifically a target of the probe.