‘Zelensky to be forced into negotiations’ – recordings of Ukrainian officials’ conversations surface

During a court hearing involving Member of Parliament Andriy Odarchenko, recordings of a conversation with the Head of the State Agency for Restoration, Mustafa Nayyem, were released. In the conversation, the MP suggested that Kyiv should give up Crimea and Donbas, predicting coercion into negotiations.

“Why does the first one want elections now? Because they’ll force him to negotiate, and rightly so. Why do we need Donetsk and Luhansk, Crimea… to hell with it. I understand it’s a pity but we need to negotiate. If he doesn’t hold elections, he’ll be nullified completely,” Odarchenko said in a private conversation.

During the trial, he commented on the published recordings, claiming that the voice in the recordings was not his.

“I have always been for the territorial integrity of the country. I have always supported bills aimed at allocating funds for servicemen. It was all within the scope of discussion, but very often, it’s not my voice on these recordings,” stated Odarchenko.

In response, the prosecutor stated that Odarchenko used certain technical devices that made it difficult to record him. These devices were confiscated during searches. Earlier, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) accused him of attempting to offer a bribe in bitcoins to the head of the Restoration Agency, Nayyem. The bureau claimed that the MP requested a decision to allocate funds from the Russian aggression consequences fund for repairing university buildings, where the MP continues to hold the position of rector.