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President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Tuesday, June 20, 2017.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Donald Trump asked if US troops were in Ukraine in 2017 at a meeting with then-President Poroshenko.

The revelation was made in a new book by former US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

"It was disconcerting that he did not seem to know where we had our troops deployed," she wrote.

President Donald Trump asked whether US troops were in Ukraine during an Oval Office meeting with then Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko in 2017, according to a new book by former US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, seen by The Guardian.

At the meeting, Trump asked his national security adviser HR McMaster if US troops were in Donbas, a territory in Ukraine claimed by Russian-backed separatists.

"An affirmative answer to that question would have meant that the United States was in a shooting war with Russia," Yovanovitch wrote in the book, according to The Guardian.

"It was disconcerting that he did not seem to know where we had our troops his troops deployed. I could only imagine what the Ukrainians were thinking."

In the same meeting, Trump also told Poroshenko that Ukraine "was a corrupt country, which he knew because a Ukrainian friend at Mar-a-Lago had told him," Yovanovitch wrote in the book, according to The Guardian.

She also claims Trump said, "Crimea was Russian, as the locals spoke Russian."

Russia invaded and annexed the Ukrainian peninsula Crimea in 2014 in a move widely condemned by the international community.

Yovanovitch said that others in the meeting "kept a poker face on" as then-President Trump made the cringe-worthy comments.

The former ambassador describes the meeting in her upcoming book, "Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir."

She served as US ambassador to Ukraine until she was removed from her post by Trump in 2019, amid his attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rival Joe Biden by withholding military aid. The scandal ultimately led to Trump's first impeachment.

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Yovanovitch writes in the book that she had the impression that "Trump had come into the meeting viewing Ukraine as a 'loser' country, smaller and weaker than Russia."

She added that "Trump's obsequiousness toward [Russian President Vladimir] Putin was a frequent and continuing cause for concern."

However, she wrote that Trump was surprised by Poroshenko, who was "as physically imposing as Trump" and "a billionaire businessman."

The revelations from Yovanovitch's book come weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion of Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Trump has continued to praise Putin for being "smart" and described his justification for invading Ukraine as "savvy" and "genius."

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Former US ambassador describes the awkward moment Donald Trump thought US troops were in Ukraine during a meeting with its president in 2017 - Yahoo...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting Turkey Monday in his first official trip to the country since he took office in December

ByThe Associated Press

March 14, 2022, 8:44 AM

2 min read

ISTANBUL -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting Turkey Monday in his first official trip to the country since he took office in December.

He will hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, followed by a news conference.

A Turkish presidency statement said the two leaders are expected to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war and Turkish-European Union Relations, along with bilateral relations.

NATO-member Turkey has close relations with both Russia and Ukraine and brought the two countries foreign ministers together last week for negotiations. Though those talks did not yield results, diplomatic efforts continue.

Germany and Turkey have significant trade relations, with bilateral trade 2021 rising above $41 billion in 2021. Some 3 million people of Turkish origin live in Germany, closely linking the two countries. But relations have been tested by Turkey's human rights record, including the jailing of German journalists and an activist, as well as Erdogan lashing out against European leaders.

Germany considers Turkey an important partner to handle the ongoing refugee and migrant crisis with people trying to reach Europe from Turkey. The German government is also aware that Turkey has an important geostrategic position as a NATO member.

In her 16 years in office, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a delicate balance between cooperation and criticism, meeting with Erdogan numerous times. Her last visit was in October before she left office.

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Germany's Scholz to meet Turkey's Erdogan in Ankara - ABC News

Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis and Turkish President Erdogan had a productive meeting in Istanbul on Sunday. Credit: Press Office of Greek Prime Minister

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Sunday afternoon.

Mitsotakis first arrived in Istanbul on Sunday morning, attending church services with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at Saint George Cathedral, one of the most important churches in Orthodox Christianity.

Erdogan then hosted his Greek counterpart for lunch at his presidential residence, during which the pair discussed pressing issues of foreign policy and diplomacy for nearly two hours.

As confirmed by the Turkish Presidency, the two leaders focused much of their discussion on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has stunned Europe and the world. Both Greece and Turkey have denounced the war.

The pair agreed to reduce tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in the wake of the war in Ukraine. The goal of both leaders is to provide stability in the region at this time.

They also agreed that the two countries should work toward better communication in the future and avoid provocative rhetoric.

The neighboring countries will also aim to strengthen their economic bonds, with Turkish President Erdogan even suggesting that the two continue their conversation on the topic during another meeting in the coming months.

Video of the two leaders before their meal showed Erdogan and Mitsotakis having a friendly conversation, aided by an interpreter. Neither of the leaders wore a tie, highlighting the casual tone of the meeting.

Before the meeting, Mitsotakis stated that he had realistic and measured expectations from todays conversation, indicating that the meeting was not meant to mend the rocky relationship between the two countries, but to foster better understanding and cooperation.

Yet it seems that the meeting may have laid the groundwork for a period of better relations between the two countries which share a long and turbulent history. Rather than as enemies, the two leaders approached the conversation as allies.

Later in the afternoon, Mitsotakis will meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew yet again at the Greek consulate in the Turkish city.

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Mitsotakis and Erdogan Agree to Reduce Tensions in Istanbul - Greek Reporter

Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu pose for a photograph in Turkey on Saturday. BSS photo

Dhaka and Ankara have agreed that foreign ministries of the two countries would work together for a bilateral visit of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Bangladesh within this year.

This was revealed at a bilateral meeting between Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on the side-line of Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey on Saturday, a foreign ministry press release said on Sunday.

During the meeting, Momen discussed the issue of Rohingya crisis in details while Turkish foreign minister assured to continue his governments support for the forcibly displaced Rohingyas.

At the invitation of Bangladesh foreign minister Cavusoglu, informed that he would soon visit Bangladesh at a mutually convenient time.

Momen paid a one-day official visit to Tukey on Saturday to join second Antalya Diplomacy Forum, attended by several other foreign ministers from Asian countries held in Antalya.

On the side-line, Momen also held bilateral meeting with foreign ministers of Austria and Kyrgyz Republic.

During the meeting with Austrian foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg, Momen discussed the issue of joint celebration of the golden jubilee of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In line with the last months telephone meeting between prime ministers of Bangladesh and Austria, the two foreign ministers discussed ways for further augmenting the bilateral relations.

At his meeting with Kyrgyz foreign minister Ruslan Kazakbaev Aitbaevich, Momen flagged the potential of increasing trade between the two countries.

The Bangladeshi foreign minister assured his Kyrgyz counterpart that Dhaka would be willing to work together with Kyrgyz Republic in the coming days to increase relations between the two countries in the areas of trade, connectivity and people to people contact.

Executive director of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia Kairat Sarybay also called on Bangladesh foreign minister.

During the meeting, the CICA executive director explained the recent activities of the inter-government organisation while Momen emphasised on the importance of a peaceful and stable Asia for its prosperous.

The view that the role of CICA, where Bangladesh is a member, should play an active role in this regard, the foreign minister observed.

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Erdogan to visit Bangladesh this year - newagebd.net

And Pences choice started off like his predecessors and would have sounded like parliamentary jargon to most people watching the session on Jan. 6, 2021: Vice presidents begin the counting of electoral votes by indicating that votes will be counted after ascertaining that the certificates are regular in form and authentic. But Pence added another line to this explanation that the preceding vice presidents did not.

Not only would each certificate he introduced be regular in form and authentic, he said at the time, but they would be the ones that the parliamentarians have advised me is the only certificate of vote from that state, and purports to be a return from the state, and that has annexed to it a certificate from an authority of that state purporting to appoint or ascertain electors.

It was a mouthful with a purpose. Pence was incorporating the specific legal language of the Electoral Count Act the 1887 law that, along with the 12th Amendment, governs the counting of electoral votes. The law requires that any electoral votes counted by Congress be submitted by official state authorities, like governors and secretaries of state.

The Jan. 6 select committee has been keenly interested in the mystery of Pences added words, too. The panels top investigator, Tim Heaphy, earlier this year asked Short about Pences decision to change the language and even played a video clip comparing Pences remarks to those of previous vice presidents, according to a partial transcript of Shorts testimony to the committee that was released in court filings last week.

So, obviously, Vice President Pence in 2021 alters, amplifies, adds language to the script that had been read by Vice Presidents reaching back 20 or 30 years, Heaphy said. Tell us about the decision, the purposeful decision by Vice President Pence to add that language to the ascertainment script.

[T]he predominant reason was that the Vice President wanted to be as transparent as possible, Short replied. But the transcript was curtailed mid-sentence.

Short explained in an interview that the added words were designed to clearly address Pences views of Trump allies push for false slates of presidential electors. Supporters of the then-president would be wondering why Pence refused to consider those slates during the Jan. 6 session.

Another source familiar with discussions among the then-vice president and his allies in those days said Pences decision to revise the wording had another audience: Members of Congress aligned with Trump who also espoused the view that Pence could introduce alternate electors. Pence, the source said, intended to preempt potential points of order or other procedural challenges those members might have made by laying out his thinking.

Indeed, top Trump allies like Stephen Miller and John Eastman pointed to these alternate electors as a way to keep the former presidents election challenge alive. Eastman built them into his last-ditch strategy to pressure Pence to overturn the election himself.

So the language Pence used had to explain his rationale for saying no.

The former vice president hasnt stopped subtly critiquing Trump in the year since he resisted the election subversion push. Pence told donors last week that there is no room in this party for apologists for Putin, viewed as a deliberate if delicate reference to Trump. Pence also recently declared that Trump was wrong for claiming he could unilaterally determine the outcome of the election.

The select committee is continuing to probe the involvement of Trump and his network in the submission of false elector slates to Congress in late 2020.

Under the Electoral Count Act, electors picked by the party of the winning candidate in each state are required to meet in mid-December to formally cast their ballots. In seven states won by Biden, however, the Trump campaign worked with state Republican parties to assemble their own elector meetings and cast ballots for Trump. Those false electors then signed certificates and mailed them to Washington.

Eastman urged Pence to introduce the dual slates on Jan. 6 and claim the outcome was in dispute. Then, per Eastman, Pence could adjourn the legally required session of Congress and urge state legislatures to resolve the so-called disputes, even though the Electoral Count Act prohibits adjournments during the count.

Pences counsel Jacob also testified to the Jan. 6 select committee; a partial transcript of his comments filed in federal court described Eastmans repeated efforts to convince Pence to introduce the alternate elector slates. Those comments formed the core of the select committees recent suggestion that it believes Eastman may have criminally conspired to obstruct Congress certification of the 2020 election.

Eastman has rejected that assertion, claiming he thought his efforts had a legitimate legal basis. Hes fighting to shield some of his emails from the select committee by claiming attorney-client privilege.

When Pence refused to entertain the alternate electors during Congress session certifying Biden as the next president, Trump supporters encroaching on the Capitol became furious. Within an hour, hundreds had breached the building, with some chanting hang Mike Pence.

Amid the chaos, Eastman exchanged tense emails with Jacob. Pences counsel accused Eastman, in one remarkably blunt missive, of being a serpent in the ear of the president of the United States.

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How Pence used 43 words to shut down Trump allies' election subversion on Jan. 6 - POLITICO