Vasyl Bodnar spoke after Andriy Yermak—President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff and the head of Ukraine's negotiating team—stepped down hours after anti-corruption investigators searched his home, according to media reports.
Yermak’s departure comes amid a widening probe into high-level graft and adds pressure at a delicate moment for Ukraine’s leadership.
"Yes, Mr. Yermak resigned and he was dismissed by the president, but I think this will not affect the position of Ukraine," Bodnar said in an interview with the Polish public radio broadcaster.
"At the negotiating table, it will not change the strength of our will to achieve peace—but on Ukrainian conditions," he told Polish Radio’s Danuta Isler as they talked at the opening of a new photo exhibition in Warsaw on daily life in wartime Ukraine.
Asked what Ukraine needs after nearly four years of full-scale war, he replied: "Realistically, we need air defense and supplies to the front. It is the cheapest investment in your own security."
Bodnar also discussed the status of the peace process, stressing that Kyiv’s priority is securing "a just and lasting peace."
He said the initial 28-point peace framework reported in the media "no longer exists," adding that negotiators reached partial agreement on 19 points during talks last weekend.
The main challenge now, he said, is not negotiating with Moscow but working out a unified position among Ukraine, Europe and the United States.
Once that common stance is reached, he added, leaders will be able to present a final proposal to Russia.
(di/gs)
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