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003.397THE WHITE HOUSE

WA S Hl I N GTO N

ETEB OBXTDO NOT COPY

MEMQRANIIMM QF TELiEPHQNE CQNVERSATIQiN

SUBJECT:

PARTICIPANT:

(U//FQUQ) TeiLephone Conversation widthPresident-elect Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine

President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine

i n t e r p r e t e r :N oteta k e r s :

A pri l 2 1 , 2019 ,A i r F o r c e Q n e

Provided by the Department of StateThe White House Situation Room

DAY El f T j N El

AND PLACE:

(U) The President. I'd like to congratulate you on a job welk.done, and congratulations on a fantastic electio~.

(U) President-elect Zelensk : G oo d 'to hear from you. Thank youso very much. It's very nice to hear from you, and I appreciate'the congrat u l a t e .ons .

(U) The P r e s i d e n t :

(U) President-elect. Zelensky : Again, thank you so very much.As you CBn see, we tried very hard 'to do Qur best. Ne hBd you BsB g reat ex a m ple .

(U) The President: I think you wilfriends in, Ukraine who know you andfriends from Ukraine and they thinkwin. And it's really an amazing th

That was an incrediible election.

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I guess, in a way, I did something similar. We re makingtremendous pxogzess in 'the U.S. [United Statesj = we have t i hemost tremendous economy ever. I just wanted to congratu3.ate you.I have no doubt you will be a fantastic px'esident

(U) President-elec't Zelensk : F ir st of all, thank you so verymuclh„ again, for the congxatula'tions. We in Ukraine are anindependent countx'y and independent Ukx'a3.ne­ we re g o d.ng t o doeverything for the people. You axe, as I said, a great example.We are hoping we can expand on our job as you did. You wz.3.3.always, also, be a great example for many. You are a greatexample for our new managexs. I d also like to invite you, ifit's possible, to the inauguration. l k now how b us y y o u a r e , l b u tif it's possible for you to come to the inauguration ceremony,that would be a great , g.reat thing foz you to do to be with us ont hat d a y .

(U) The President: Well, that's very nice. I' ll look into that,a nd we l l = give us the date and, at. a vezy minimum, we' ll have agreat representative. Gx' more than one from 'the Uni'ted Stateswil3. be with you on that great day. So„ we will have somebody,at a minimum, at a very, very higlh level, and t.hey will be withyou. Rea3.ly, an incxedible day fox an incredib3.e achievement,

(U) President-elect Zelensk : A gain th a nk you a nd we' relooking forwaz'd to youz visit or to the visit of a high-leveldelegation. laut there's no woxd that can describe our wonderfulcountry. How nice, warm, and friendly oux people are, how tastyand delicious our food is, and how wonderful Ukraine is. Wardscannot describe our country„ so i't would be best fax you to seeit yourself. So, if you can come, that would be great. So,a gain , l 3.n v 3 . t e y o u t o c oIt l e .

(U) The President: We3.l, I agree with you about your countxy,and I look foxward to it.. When I owned Miss Universe, theyalways had great people. Ukzaine was always very wellrepresented. When you' re settled in and xeady I' d 3.ike toinvite you to the White House. We ll have a lot of things totalk about, but we"re with you al3. the way.

(U) President-elect Ze3.ensk y: Well, thank you for theinvitation. We accept tlhe invitation and look forward to thevisit.. Thank you again. The while team and l are lookingforwax'd to tha't visit. Thank you, again, for thecongratulations. And I think that. it will still be great if youcould come and be with us on this very important day of oura.nauguratz.on The zesults axe incredxble ­ ' they xe v e z y

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impressive for us. So it will be absolutely fantastic if youcould come and be with us on that day.

(Uj The Pxesident.: Very good. Ne'll let you know very soon, — andwe will see you, vex'y soon, regardless. Congxatulations ­ and,please, say hello to the Ukxainian people and your family. Letthem know that I send my best regards from our country

(U) Pxesident-elect Zelenska safe fliglht and see you soon.

(Uj The President,: Take caxe of yourself and gave a great speechtoday. You take cax'e of yourself, and I' ll see you soon.

(U) P re s i d e n t = elect Zelensk : T hank you very much. It. isdifficult for me, but I will practice Engr'.ish and we' ll meetE ngl i sh . Than k y ou ve r y m u c h .

(U) The President. [Laughter] All that' s beautiful t:o hearjThat's really good. I could not do that in your language.v exy i m p r e s s ed . Thank y o u v e x y m u c h .

(U) P re s i d e n t = elect Z el en s kyou vex'y soon •

(U)~ The Px'esca.dent: G ood l u c k .

Goodbye.

T lhank you v e r y m u c h . I ' l l see

You have

Grea't day •

End of C o n v e r s a t i on

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