Ukraine’s president said he will head to Turkey for possible talks with the chief White House envoy involved in talks to end Russia’s nearly four-year-old war on Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit, planned for November 19, comes amid a series of international travels, including to France, where he secured a verbal agreement to acquire scores of French Rafale fighter jets. He was in Spain on November 18, and prior to that, Greece, where a deal on gas supplies was signed. “We are preparing to intensify negotiations, and we have worked out solutions that we will offer to partners. Bringing the end of the war closer with all our might is Ukraine’s first priority,” Zelenskyy said in a post to Telegram. News reports said Zelenskyy would meet with Steve Witkoff, the White House’s lead envoy for negotiations to try to end the Ukraine war. The Kremlin said no Russian officials would be present. No face-to-face talks have taken place between Kyiv and Moscow since the two sides met in Istanbul in July. Far-Reaching Corruption Scandal Zelenksyy’s travels coincide with a snowballing corruption scandal, which is shaping up as the worst political crisis he’s faced since his election in 2019. The scandal concerns allegations that funds earmarked for building defenses to protect Ukraine’s vulnerable energy infrastructure from Russian air attacks were siphoned off in the form of kickbacks to political insiders. The allegations burst into public last week when Ukraine’s two leading anti-corruption agencies published evidence detailing their findings. Among those implicated were Tymur Mindich, an old friend and former business partner of Zelenskyy. Mindich fled Ukraine for Poland on November 10 hours before authorities launched raids in connection with their investigation, law enforcement officials told Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service. That prompted critics to allege he had been alerted ahead of the action. The revelations have already resulted in the resignations of the energy minister and the justice minister. Last week, the investigative agencies announced the arrest of a top official of a subsidiary of Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear company, on bribery allegations. And in June, a deputy prime minister, Oleksiy Chernyshov, was charged with corruption. Zelenskyy has not been implicated in the case. Energoatom said it was fully cooperating with the probe. Anti-Corruption Protests In Ukraine Over the summer, Zelenskyy sparked an uproar when he backed a measure that would have sharply reduced the independence of the two investigative agencies: Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. After rare wartime street protests, Zelenskyy backed down. On November 18, a Ukrainian lawmaker alleged that the investigative records include a code-named person who is the head of Zelenskyy’s presidential office. The lawmaker, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, said the records showed Andriy Yermak allegedly directing unnamed officials to investigate officials with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. Yermak did not immediately respond to requests for comment from RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service.
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-zelenskyy-energy-scandal-corruption-turkey-war-talks/33594741.html