MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/. Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, has been appointed the head of the country’s delegation to negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict settlement, according to a decree on behalf of Vladimir Zelensky.
“Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, is the head of the delegation,” reads the document.
“All issues regarding Ukrainian delegation’s participation in the negotiation process with the United States and other international partners of Ukraine, as well as with representatives of the Russian Federation to achieve a just and sustainable peace [should be handled via Umerov],” according to the document
The delegation at the negotiations regarding the Ukrainian peace talks now include besides Umerov: Advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine Alexander Bevz, Chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kirill Budanov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andrey Gnatov, Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine Oleg Ivashchenko, First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislitsa, First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense (NSDC) Yevgeny Ostryansky SBU Deputy Chairman Alexander Poklad and Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine Vadim Kibitsky.
The presidential decree issued by Ukraine’s Zelensky comes into force with an immediate effect and it comes in the wake of the resignation of his former chief-of-staff Andrey Yermak.
On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), both independent from Zelensky’s office, announced an investigation into a major corruption scheme in the energy sector, dubbed Operation Midas.
Searches were conducted at the Energoatom energy company and the residences of entrepreneur Timur Mindich and the now suspended Justice Minister German Galushchenko, who served as the country’s energy minister at the time of the events that are being looked into. The investigation found that participants in the scheme had laundered around $100 mln.
NABU also started to release recordings of conversations from Mindich’s apartment, which revealed discussions of corrupt practices. On November 17, reports indicated that Andrey Yermak might appear in the Mindich case files under the pseudonym Ali Baba.
The corruption scandal triggered a profound crisis in the Ukrainian government: the parliament was suspended, and several MPs, including those from the ruling pro-presidential Servant of the People party, demanded the resignation of Zelensky’s Chief of Staff.
On November 28, it was reported that anti-corruption officials were conducting searches of Yermak’s apartment and office. He himself confirmed that investigative actions were underway. Zelensky later announced that Yermak had submitted a resignation letter.