President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Wednesday afternoon.

During the meeting — the first face-to-face encounter between Trump and Zelensky — the Ukrainian president said he didn't want to be involved in US elections.

They met hours after Trump released a memo about his phone call with Zelensky in late July that's been tied to an escalating scandal over a whistleblower complaint from an intelligence official.

The memo appeared to confirm reports that Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a top candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Trump also used the meeting as an opportunity to bash former President Barack Obama on the subject of Russia's annexation of Crimea, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server.

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"I don't want to be involved."

That was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's central message about US elections as he met with President Donald Trump for the first time on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Wednesday, amid somewhat awkward and dramatic circumstances.

Zelensky also rejected the notion that he was "pushed" in any particular direction during his phone call with Trump in late July that's been tied to an escalating scandal over a whistleblower complaint from an intelligence official.

"I think you read everything. I think you read text. I'm sorry, but I don't want to be involved to democratic, open elections of USA," Zelensky told reporters. "We had, I think, good phone call. It was normal."

They met hours after Trump released a memo about the call.

—CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) September 25, 2019

Over the past week or so, reports have indicated that Trump repeatedly urged Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden over the ousting of a prosecutor who at one point oversaw investigations into a Ukrainian natural-gas company whose board Hunter was on.

There's no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden. The Ukrainian prosecutor was pushed out amid allegations that he was not doing enough to root out corruption.

Read more: Meet Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's comedian turned president who's at the center of the scandal threatening Trump's presidency

Congressional lawmakers have expressed concerns that Trump dangled military aid to coerce Zelensky to investigate Biden. The notes on the phone call released by the White House on Wednesday appeared to confirm reports that Trump repeatedly pressured Zelensky to investigate Biden and that military aid was mentioned.

The memo includes Trump asking Zelensky to do him a "favor" and at other points asking Zelensky to work with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr to investigate the Bidens.

Trump has fiercely defended his conduct, maintaining he did nothing wrong.

The president also used the meeting with Zelensky on Wednesday as an opportunity to bash former President Barack Obama on the subject of Russia's annexation of Crimea, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server.