U.S. Ambassador Sondland says he followed Trump's orders on Ukraine

U.S. Ambassador to EU Sondland arrives to tesitfy at House Intelligence Committee hearing on Trump impeachment inquiry on Capitol Hill in Washington

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. envoy Gordon Sondland told lawmakers on Wednesday that President Donald Trump ordered him to work with Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine matters, and that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was aware and "fully supportive" of their efforts.

Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, said Giuliani's efforts to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Trump's political rivals "were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for Zelenskiy," he said prepared testimony for an impeachment hearing.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Karen Freifeld, Susan Heavey)