Trump-Zelensky call memo hints at US talks risk: Russia

Moscow: The release of the transcript of a recent phone conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky showed the risks of talks with Washington, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said.

The release of the transcript by the US changed the format of relations between countries, between national leaders and between politicians, Zakharova said in an interview with Russia’s TV Channel One, as was quoted by TASS news agency on Sunday.

She said the negative consequences of the U.S. decision to do so could be serious, Xinhua reported, citing TASS news.

The White House on Wednesday released a memo of the phone call between Trump and Zelensky, which happened on July 25.

The phone call, now under congressional investigation, is at the centre of increasingly heightened tensions between Congress and the White House stemming from a whistleblower complaint filed in mid-August by an unidentified intelligence official, which alleged that Trump interacted inappropriately with a foreign leader and made an unspecified “promise”.

Trump tweeted after the release of the memo that the Democrats should “apologize” upon seeing the “perfect call”.