On January 7, during a conversation with journalists on WhatsApp, President Volodymyr Zelensky answered what Kyrylo Budanov will do as head of the Public Security Bureau and spoke about security guarantees.
The President emphasized that Budanov will not be involved in information policy in his position. Instead, his responsibilities will include the issue of exchanges. Responding to a question about the pause in exchanges, he noted that Russia is putting pressure on Ukraine in this way.
When asked whether Britain and France are ready to extend a nuclear umbrella to Ukraine, Zelensky replied that nuclear weapons are not mentioned in the security guarantees. They are discussing a foreign contingent, protection on the ground, in the sky, at sea, air defense, strengthening and financing the army.
Zelensky suggested that changes to the legislation on elections and referendums during wartime could be made as early as February. The date depends on negotiations.
"Everything depends on the negotiations. More precisely, on the continuation of the negotiations and the achievement of the desired results. First of all, the 20 points of the plan. Along with the 20 points, there are security guarantees, bilateral, from the USA. It also depends on our economic bloc, on our prime minister, on me, on the Minister of Economy and the American negotiating team, because we need a prosperity package, that is, a package for the recovery of Ukraine. I think that if we manage to do all this in January, then, probably, February can be such a working month regarding changes in legislation," the president emphasized.
However, Zelensky does not yet have a clear answer to the question of whether European partners are ready to defend Ukraine in the event of a repeated Russian attack.
"I see the political will, and that partners are ready to give us strong sanctions, strong security guarantees. But until we have such security guarantees, legal, supported by parliaments, supported by the US Congress, we cannot answer this question," he said.
Zelensky also mentioned the US operation in Venezuela and noted that a similar operation could be carried out with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov: "Let them do some kind of operation with Kadyrov, with this murderer. Maybe then Putin will see this and take thought.”
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.