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In this June 20, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump shakes hands with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during a meeting in the Oval Office.The Associated Press

U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, received a secret payment of at least US$400,000 to arrange talks between Mr. Trump and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko last year, the British Broadcasting Corp reported on Wednesday.

The payment was arranged by intermediaries acting for Mr. Poroshenko who wanted to open a back channel to the Republican U.S. President, the BBC said, citing unnamed sources in Kiev.

Mr. Cohen, who was not registered as a representative of Ukraine, was brought in because Ukraine’s registered lobbyists and its embassy in Washington could get Mr. Poroshenko little more than a photo op with Mr. Trump while the Ukrainian leader “needed something that could be portrayed as ‘talks,’” the broadcaster reported.

“This story is completely false,” Mr. Cohen said in a text message to Reuters. The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In an e-mailed statement to Reuters, Mr. Poroshenko’s office also said the story was false. “Blatant lie, slander and fake,” it said.

The two Ukrainians said to have opened the back channel denied the story, the BBC reported.

Mr. Trump met with Mr. Poroshenko at the White House on June 20, 2017, in what was officially called a “drop-by” visit after the Ukrainian leader’s separate talks with Vice-President Mike Pence.

Mr. Poroshenko, speaking to reporters after his session with Mr. Trump, said he came away pleased with what he called a “full, detailed meeting.”

There is no suggestion that Mr. Trump was aware of the payment to Mr. Cohen, the BBC said.

Mr. Poroshenko was desperate to meet with Mr. Trump because of what had happened during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, the BBC said.

According to the BBC, several sources in Ukraine said Mr. Poroshenko, believing that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was sure to win the presidency, had authorized the leak of a document published by The New York Times in August, 2016, that appeared to show Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign manager, had received millions of dollars from pro-Russian interests in Ukraine. Mr. Manafort resigned a few days later.

A week after Mr. Poroshenko returned home from the meeting with Mr. Trump, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau announced it was no longer investigating Mr. Manafort, the BBC said.

A Ukrainian official said Mr. Cohen was paid US$400,000, while another source put the figure at US$600,000, the BBC reported.

Mr. Cohen is being investigated for possible bank and tax fraud, possible campaign law violations linked to a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels and perhaps other matters related to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, a person familiar with the probe has said.

Editor’s note: The BBC has apologized and agreed to pay damages to Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko relating to a report the BBC now admits was untrue. The report, published last May but since removed from the BBC website, falsely alleged $400,000 was paid to U.S. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to extend a meeting between Mr. Poroshenko and Mr. Trump.

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