MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump may halt all corruption cases against Vladimir Zelensky and his associates if he accepts the new peace plan proposed by Washington, the Strana news outlet reported.
According to it, Trump is capable of using American influence on Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) to achieve this goal. The news outlet noted that, if the peace plan is accepted, Trump may allow Zelensky to take repressive action against his domestic political opponents.
Strana added that, in exchange for agreeing to the plan, Zelensky could receive security guarantees from Trump should he choose to leave office.
According to details of the US plan leaked to the Western media, the US and other countries will recognize Russia's sovereignty over Crimea, Donbass, and other territories Ukraine will cede. In return, Kiev will receive American and European security guarantees. A demilitarized zone will be created in the areas from which Ukrainian troops will withdraw. According to Axios, the line of contact between the parties in the Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions will be frozen, and Russia will return some areas to Ukraine. The Ukrainian armed forces will be significantly reduced and stripped of long-range weapons. Deployment of foreign troops in the country will be prohibited, and Russian will become the official language.
Corruption scandal
On November 10, NABU and SAPO announced a large-scale operation dubbed Midas to uncover a major corruption scheme in the energy sector. Searches were conducted at the home of Timur Mindich, who is often referred to as Zelensky’s "wallet," as well as at the residence of Justice Minister German Galuschenko, who had previously served as Minister of Energy, and at the Energoatom company. The NABU then began publishing excerpts from conversations in Mindich’s apartment, during which corruption schemes were discussed.
On November 11, NABU filed the first charges, including Mindich as the head of a criminal organization, as well as former Deputy Prime Minister and ex-Minister of National Unity Alexey Chernyshov, who remains chummy with Zelensky. There are also reports that Ukrainian presidential office head Andrey Yermak might be mentioned in the investigation materials.
According to Ukrainian media reports, however, this is only part of the scheme, and materials about the involvement of senior officials in defense sector corruption, particularly public procurement, may soon appear. In connection with the investigation, Rustem Umerov, the former defense minister and current Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary, has already been mentioned.