Washington (CNN) US administration officials knew as early as May 2019 that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky felt pressure from President Donald Trump's allies to conduct investigations that were politically useful to the American president. Under pressureOn May 7, two weeks before his inauguration, Zelensky and his team held a meeting ostensibly about energy issues. Trump and his allies have leaned heavily on a Sept. 25 statement from Zelensky that he did not feel pressured to investigate. According to Hill's testimony, that was alarming enough to prompt Hochstein, who sits on the supervisory board of Naftogaz, the state-owned Ukrainian energy corporation, to request to meet with her. That meeting happened about two weeks after Zelensky and Trump spoke for the first time following Zelensky's electoral victory in late April.

Source: CNN November 18, 2019 21:22 UTC