KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky's powerful chief of staff, who headed Ukraine's negotiation team at fraught US-backed peace talks, quit on Friday, hours after anti-corruption agents searched his home.
Zelensky said Andriy Yermak had resigned and that he would consider his replacement on Saturday.
Yermak's departure comes as a major probe into high-level graft ensnared senior officials, fuelling widespread public anger.
"Russia very much wants Ukraine to make mistakes", Zelensky said in a video address. "There will be no mistakes on our part. Our work continues".
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that talks between Ukrainian and US officials on proposals to end the war with Russia would take place soon.
In the video address to the nation, Zelensky said senior Ukrainian officials representing the military, foreign ministry and intelligence would participate in the talks on how to end the conflict, which is approaching its 4-year mark.
Meanwhile, Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever has called an EU plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine "fundamentally wrong", throwing further doubt on a push to agree the move next month.
In a letter to European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen seen by on Friday, De Wever pushed back strongly on the initiative and urged against venturing "into unchartered legal and financial waters".
The EU executive and multiple member states are pressing for the bloc to tap immobilised Russian central bank assets to provide Kyiv with a $162 billion loan to plug looming budget black holes. — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
