Failing to impeach Trump - the first time - would remain a stain on our country
(the second one they had the excuse that he no longer was a president)
We know the details, but reading the excellent summary in TIME magazine just sent shivers down my spine:
Zelenskys first priority as President was to bring peace with Russia. But he faced an obstacle in Ukraines most important ally. Two months into his tenure, the U.S. froze aid to Ukraine worth nearly $400 million, most of it meant to shore up the nations military. U.S. President Donald Trump wanted the Ukrainians to legitimize his claims of corruption against Joe Biden, and he was using the military aid as leverage. In a phone call in July 2019, Trump asked Zelensky to do us a favor by announcing investigations into those bogus claims.
The blackmail attempt, which led to Trumps first impeachment in the House of Representatives, dented Zelenskys faith in Ukraines foreign partners. I dont trust anyone at all, he said when we met in his office that December. A few days later, he was due to meet Putin for their first round of peace negotiations. His expectations were low, but he was intent on doing whatever it took to avoid a broader war. The eastern regions Russia occupied in 2014, he said, were not worth the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. I cannot send them there, he told me. How? How many of them will die? Hundreds of thousands, and then an all-out war will start, an all-out war in Ukraine, and then across Europe.
https://time.com/6154139/volodymyr-zelensky-ukraine-profile-russia/