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 as the country reels from a corruption scandal.
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 where the two countries agreed to launch a joint project to supply long-range target-detection radars, and prior to that, the Ukrainian leader visited 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.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine's Big Corruption Scandal Cuts Close To Zelenskyy. Will He Weather It?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.
Semen Kryvonos, the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), told RFE/RL's Ukrainian service on November 18 that work was under way to build case to seek Mindich's extradition from Israel, where he holds citizenship.
Extradition from Israel "is not an absolutely impossible story," Kryvonos said.
"As a rule, suspects do not sit in one place, they want to travel, visit European countries. Therefore, all measures must be taken to ensure that this person is on the international wanted list, so that the relevant law enforcement agencies and Interpol have the appropriate orientation to detain this person in the event of crossing and arriving in the territory of another country."
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.
On November 18, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court remanded Chernyshov in custody for 60 days while setting bail in the amount of just over 51 million hryvnias ($1.2 million).
Zelenskyy has not been implicated in the case. Energoatom said it was fully cooperating with the probe.
SEE ALSO: Ukrainian Businessman Embroiled In Massive Corruption Scandal Fled To Poland In Luxury TaxiAnti-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 NABU.
After rare wartime street protests, Zelenskyy backed down.
Kryvonos told RFE/RL that if it weren't for the protests, the case "wouldn't have happened. It would have been destroyed for sure."
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.
SEE ALSO: Left In The Dark: Ukrainians Facing Another Cold Winter As Russia Targets Energy InfrastructureYermak did not immediately respond to requests for comment from RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service.
The allegations have touched a nerve among Ukrainians who are exhausted after nearly four years of Russia’s all-out invasion. Ukrainian officials have raced to bolster defense for the country’s energy infrastructure, to keep the population from freezing or sitting in the dark during the cold winter months.