U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed Wednesday that he was on a contested call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's leader, saying it was a legitimate conversation that focused on U.S. policy priorities.

"I was on the phone call," Pompeo told reporters during a visit to Italy, adding that it came within the context of U.S. policymaking, including cutting corruption in the east European state and "taking down the threat Russia poses there in Ukraine."

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Timeline: Key events in the Trump-Biden-Ukraine controversy

Pompeo accuses Democrats of 'bullying' as key envoys agree to testify

Following a whistleblower complaint last week, Democrats are looking into Trump's request to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the July 25 phone call to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden is a leading contender in the Democratic race to run against Republican Trump in the 2020 election.

One day earlier, Pompeo just accused House committee chairs of bullying and intimidation as two key former officials agreed to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry into Trump, and pushed back on House Democrats' efforts to get the depositions from state department officials.

The officials "may not attend any interview or deposition" without executive branch counsel present to control disclosure of confidential information, Pompeo wrote in a letter to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel while on a three-day trip in Italy.

In a letter posted on Twitter, Pompeo told Engel: "I am concerned with aspects of your request that can be understood only as an attempt to intimidate, bully, and treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State, including several career Foreign Service Officers, whom the committee is now targeting."

Engel and two other Democratic committee chairmen issued a statement accusing Pompeo of "stonewalling" the impeachment inquiry, and called him a "fact witness" in the investigation, based on media reports that he had listened in on Trump's call with Zelensky.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday defended Trump, saying there was "nothing compromising" in the transcripts of the call. 

"I see nothing compromising in the conversation between Trump and (Ukrainian leader Volodymyr) Zelensky," Putin said of the phone call that has sparked an impeachment probe in the U.S.

"President Trump turned to a colleague with a request to investigate possible corruption relating to members of the former administration," the Russian leader said at an energy forum in Moscow.

"They have already been using any excuse to attack President Trump. Now it's Ukraine," Putin added. 

The president also took aim at the Mueller Report, which concluded that Russia tried to swing the 2016 election in the Republican's favor but did not establish evidence of collusion between the Trump camp and Moscow. 

"He didn't find any evidence of us colluding with Trump in the past, but said there was a risk we might do so in the future... It would be funny if it weren't so sad," said Putin. 

Asked if Russia would try to meddle in the U.S. 2020 presidential election, Putin joked: "I'll let you into a secret – yes! We absolutely will... Just don't tell anybody." 

(With input from Reuters, AFP)

(Cover: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo received a piece of Parmesan cheese from an Italian journalist during his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at Palazzo Chigi in Rome, Italy, October 1, 2019. /VCG Photo)