Americans are not the only ones who were exhausted by the Democratic Party-led impeachment of President Donald Trump.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was a key subject of the controversy related to Trump's dealings with his country, says he is ready to turn the page on the scandal and even compared it to a 'soap opera.'

According to the AFP, Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday: "After the whole impeachment soap opera, I want to go (to Washington) and start a blank page on our relations."

It's like 'Dallas' and 'Santa Barbara'

The Ukrainian president echoed the television series comparison in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour. The Federalist's David Marcus reported Zelensky even compared the impeachment process to the hit 1980s soap operas "Santa Barbara" and "Dallas," which were known for their dramatic style.

According to Marcus, during his CNN interview Zelensky severely undermined key arguments by Democrats in their impeachment efforts against Trump. For instance, by stating that he looks forward to meeting soon with Trump, Zelensky throws "cold water" on the suggestion that he was being extorted or unduly pressured in his July 25 phone call with the American commander in chief.

"I'm ready to host him before he hosts me," he told the audience in Munich, which drew applause from attendees.

Making progress on corruption

The Ukrainian leader also pushed back against the notion that his country is corrupt. However, he did acknowledge that his country had suffered from corruption under previous governments. Zelensky also said that his administration is making a concerted effort to fight for transparency.

Government malfeasance was at the center of the impeachment controversy focused on Trump asking Zelensky to address corruption in order to qualify for foreign assistance. Democrats allege that the U.S. had no legitimate interest in cracking down on foreign corruption in the eastern European and that Trump was merely pressuring the Ukrainians to launch a bogus investigation into Burisma, an energy company where former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, sat on the board.

However, several key witnesses during House impeachment hearings testified that the U.S. had a long-standing policy of demanding that foreign governments, including Ukraine, clean-up their internal affairs before releasing foreign aid. Moreover, no investigation into Biden or Burisma was announced by Ukrainian officials and the country received its foreign aid funds.

On Feb. 5, 2020, the Senate voted to acquit Trump on two articles of impeachment related to the controversy.