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Rudy Giuliani, Trump's Personal Lawyer, Pulls Out Of Kremlin-Sponsored Event In Armenia

September 27, 2019

Rudy Giuliani, a personal lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump, has abruptly canceled a scheduled appearance at a Kremlin-sponsored event in Armenia that is expected to feature Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The Washington Post on September 27 had reported hours earlier that Giuliani, a key figure in a controversy over Trump's telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in an interview confirmed he planned to take part in a panel at the conference.

But after the Post reported that he would attend the event, Giuliani reversed himself and said he would not take part.

Giuliani declined to comment to the Post and other media outlets about the change in plans.

The White House and State Department declined to comment.

The forum's website agenda said Giuliani would participate in the event, scheduled for the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on September 30 to October 1.

The website says the organizers are the government of Armenia; the Moscow-based Eurasian Economic Union, a trade alliance launched by Putin in 2014 as a counterweight to the European Union; the World Armenian Congress; the Russian Ministry of Trade; and the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Organizers said that along with Putin, Iranian President Hassan Rohani is scheduled to attend the forum.

The online agenda indicated that the panel Giuliani was to join on October 1 will be led by Sergei Glazyev, a longtime Putin aide who has been under U.S. and European Union sanctions since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

The Post had reported that Giuliani's decision to attend the event had "astounded national security experts."

It would have taken place days after he has come under scrutiny for his role in dealings with officials in Ukraine in what has become the heart of an impeachment inquiry in the U.S. House of Representatives against Trump.

Giuliani has confirmed that he has contacted Ukrainian authorities about possibly investigating former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who had business dealings in Ukraine.

Trump has also acknowledged asking Ukraine to investigate Biden, a leading candidate to challenge Trump in the 2020 election, but both he and Giuliani deny they did anything wrong. Democrats say Trump attempted to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival by threatening to hold up needed military aid.

In an earlier interview before his withdrawal, the Post said Giuliani rejected questions about whether it was appropriate for him to attend the event, which he also participated in last year.

"I will try to not knowingly talk to a Russian until this is all over," he joked.

Giuliani, the former police chief and mayor of New York who has in the past unsuccessfully run for the Republican presidential nomination, declined to say how much he was to be paid for the appearance or who would pay for it.

Giuliani says he works for Trump but does not take a salary from the U.S. government or the president.

With reporting by The Washington Post

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/giuliani- withdraws-kremlin-forum-yerevan-armenia -trump-lawyer/30187793.html

Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.