[Sydney 2nd Reuters]-Australia's Prime Minister Morrison said yesterday that the talks with US President Trump had ended in a short conversation with no major problems without feeling pressure. The talk was related to a study conducted by the Trump administration over the beginning of the alleged Russian intervention in the US presidential election in 2016, and Mr. Trump requested Australia's cooperation over the study.
The investigation of alleged Russian intervention was conducted by Mr. Moller, a US special prosecutor.
The New York Times reported on September 30 that President Trump had talked with Prime Minister Morrison on telephone calls for cooperation. This is the first time Prime Minister Morrison has commented on this talk.
Prime Minister Morrison said in an interview with Sky News that Australia had already committed to cooperating with the US Department of Justice when the survey was announced in May. A telephone talk with President Trump said, “It was a very short conversation. I didn't feel pressured.” “The president had contacted me and asked me about the contact between the Australian government and the US judicial authorities, and I was happy to respond,” he explained.
Prime Minister Morrison also said he had talked about his September visit to the United States.
The US is Australia's most important ally, sharing a lot of information.
Australia stressed that it was not the subject of or involved in the US survey, and that the Australian government cooperated with the survey but did not act against the national interests.
He said he did not recognize direct requests and did not recognize that such a request had been made when asked if he would provide diplomatic public service to the United States.
The Russian alleged investigation was triggered by a report by former Australian Foreign Minister Downer.
Trump faction executive George Papadopros leaked to Mr. Downer in 2016 that Russia had information that would hit Hilary Clinton, the opposition candidate for the presidential election. (FBI).
Prime Minister Morrison said the Australian authorities did not investigate and were not required to conduct any interviews with Mr. Downer and Papadopoulos. “The Australian response is not a problem,” he said.