An associate of Rudy Giuliani claims that President Trump’s personal lawyer instructed him to warn the new president of Ukraine that he needed to announce an investigation against Joe Biden if he wanted US military aid.

Lev Parnas alleges that he and his business partner, Igor Fruman, relayed the message to a representative of Volodymyr Zelensky shortly before he was sworn in as president in Kiev in May of this year.

Parnas’ lawyer says his client plans to tell impeachment investigators in Congress that if Zelensky did not publicly declare he would probe Biden and his son, Hunter, over ties to a Ukrainian gas firm, then Vice President Mike Pence would not attend the newly elected president’s swearing-in.

Giuliani and Fruman both deny Parnas’ allegations, according to The New York Times.

Lev Parnas (seen right with Rudy Giuliani in September) says that he and his business partner relayed a message to Ukraine's newly elected president in May that he needed to announce an investigation into Joe Biden and his son if he wanted US assistance for his country

Parnas (left) alleges that he and his partner, Igor Fruman (right), were acting on the orders of Giuliani, who is President Trump's personal attorney

Parnas alleges that the message was relayed to Serhiy Shefir (left), a top aide to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky (right), during a meeting in Kiev shortly before Zelensky's May 20 inauguration

‘Categorically, I did not tell him to say that,’ Giuliani told the Times.

Fruman’s lawyer, John Dowd, told the Times that his client told him that he and Parnas were in Kiev to seek a meeting with Zelensky.

‘There was no mention of any terms, military aid or whatever they are talking about it - it’s false,’ Dowd said.

Serhiy Shefir, the Zelensky associate who was present at the meeting, did not address the allegation when releasing a statement to the Times.

Trump (pictured on Saturday) is being investigated by Congress over his efforts to press Ukraine to get them to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden

He said that while he did indeed meet with Parnas and Fruman in an outdoor cafe in Kiev, they did not raise the issue of military aid.

Shefir, a longtime business partner and friend of Zelensky who was named by the new president as his chief adviser, said that he briefed the leader on their meeting.

‘We did not treat Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman as official representatives, and therefore we did not consider that they could speak on behalf of the U.S. government,’ Shefir said in a statement to the Times.

He told the Times that he informed Parnas and Fruman ‘that we could consider meeting with Mr. Giuliani, but only publicly and officially and only after the inauguration of the newly elected president.’

If true, Parnas’ statement is significant since it would be the first time that Giuliani is directly implicated in threatening Ukraine if it did not act to help Trump politically.

Last month, both Parnas and Fruman were arrested by federal authorities and charged with campaign finance crimes.

Parnas pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court last month to being part of a scheme that used a shell company to donate money to a pro-Trump election committee and illegally raise money for a former congressman as part of an effort to have the president remove the US ambassador to Ukraine.

Parnas would be a crucial witness if he were to cooperate.

He has said he played a key role in connecting Giuliani to Ukrainian officials during Giuliani’s investigation into Biden and his son Hunter.

His attorney, Joseph Bondy, took issue with Shefir’s characterization of the meeting in Kiev.

Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden over their links to a Ukrainian gas firm, Burisma, that paid Hunter Biden to sit on its board of directors when his father was vice president

‘It would simply defy reason for Mr. Shefir to have attended a meeting with Mr. Parnas if he did not believe Mr. Parnas spoke for the president, and also for Mr. Parnas not to have conveyed the president’s message at this meeting,’ Bondy told the Times.

Pence did not attend Zelensky’s inauguration. According to his office, aides to the vice president informed the Ukrainians a week beforehand that he would not be in Kiev.

Parnas' allegations appear to corroborate statements made by White House officials and diplomats who have testified before Congress in the impeachment inquiry.

Key White House officials told impeachment investigators that Trump's deal with Ukraine was a straight-out trade: If Ukraine's new leader wanted an Oval Office welcome he would have to open a public probe into Joe Biden and his son.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, an Army officer assigned to the National Security Council, said, 'There was no ambiguity.'

Vindman's testimony was one of two transcripts released Friday by House Democrats leading the impeachment probe.

They also released a transcript of testimony from Fiona Hill, a former White House Russia adviser.

Career State Department official George Kent told Congress that there were three words Trump wanted to hear from the Ukraine president: Investigations, Biden, Clinton.

US government officials George Kent (left) and Alexander Vindman (right) testified before Congress that Ukraine was told it needed to investigate the Bidens in order to gain diplomatic and military assistance

That's according to the transcript, released Thursday, of an impeachment inquiry interview with Kent.

Kent told investigators that that was his understanding of what Trump wanted Zelensky to say in order to unlock US military aid, as relayed to the official by others, including those in direct contact with the president.

Trump discussed investigating the Bidens during a July 25 phone call with Zelensky.

Trump’s Democratic opponents have launched impeachment proceedings, arguing that Trump abused power to press Ukraine to hurt a political foe. Trump calls the investigation a witch hunt and denies wrongdoing.

Giuliani is also under scrutiny from federal investigators over his ties to Parnas and Fruman.