On September 13, a staff member at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv texted Mr. Holmes to relay a message that "Sondland said the Zelensky interview is supposed to be today or Monday, and they plan to announce that a certain investigation that was 'on hold' will progress."1022 The Embassy Kyiv staffer stated that he "did not know if this was decided or if Sondland was advocating for it. Apparently he's been discussing this with Yermak."1023
On September 13, during a meeting in President Zelensky's office, Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak "looked uncomfortable" when Ambassador Taylor sought to confirm that there were no plans for President Zelensky to announce the investigations during a CNN interview.1024 Although President Zelensky's National Security Advisor Oleksandr Danyliuk indicated that there were no plans for President Zelensky to do the CNN interview, Ambassador Taylor was still concerned after he and Mr. Holmes saw Mr. Yermak following the meeting.1025 According to Ambassador Taylor, Mr. Yermak's "body language was such that it looked to me like he was still thinking they were going to make that statement."1026 Mr. Holmes also recalled that when he and Ambassador Taylor ran into Mr. Yermak following the meeting, Ambassador Taylor "stressed the importance of staying out of U.S. politics and said he hoped no interview was planned," but "Mr. Yermak shrugged in resignation and did not answer, as if to indicate he had no choice."1027
That same day, September 13, President Zelensky reportedly met with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, who was in Kyiv to moderate the Yalta European Strategy Conference.1028 During the meeting with Mr. Zakaria, President Zelensky did not cancel his planned CNN interview.1029
Conflicting advice prompted the Ukrainian foreign minister to observe in a meeting with Ambassador Volker, Ambassador Taylor, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent, "You guys are sending us different messages in different channels."1030
For example, at a September 14 meeting in Kyiv attended by Ambassador Volker, Mr. Yermak, and the Ukrainian foreign minister, Ambassador Volker stated that when the two Presidents finally meet, "it's important that President Zelensky give the messages that we discussed before," apparently referring to President Zelensky's "willingness to open investigations in the two areas of interest to the President and that had been pushed previously by Rudy Giuliani."1031 Ambassador Taylor, however, replied: "Don't do that."1032
On September 18 or 19, President Zelensky cancelled his scheduled interview with CNN.1033 Although President Zelensky did not publicly announce the investigations that President Trump wanted, he remains under pressure from President Trump, particularly because he requires diplomatic, financial, and military backing from the United States, the most powerful supporter of Ukraine. That pressure continues to this day. As Mr. Holmes testified:
[A]lthough the hold on the security assistance may have been lifted, there were still things they wanted that [the Ukrainians] weren't getting, including a meeting with the President in the Oval Office. Whether the hold—the security assistance hold continued or not, Ukrainians understood that that's something the President wanted, and they still wanted important things from the President.
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