Ukrainian tycoon's lawyer says he lent money to Giuliani associate

A lawyer for Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash said on Wednesday he had lent $1 million to Lev Parnas, an associate of U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and Parnas' wife in order for them to buy a house in Florida.

In his first public comments on the transaction since it was revealed by U.S. prosecutors this week, lawyer Ralph Isenegger said in an emailed statement to Reuters that the interest-bearing loan was a personal business transaction.

"The funds were entirely mine and I was not acting in this matter at the request of or on behalf of any of my clients or indeed anyone else," he said in the statement.