Budanov agrees to lead President's Office after Zelenskyy's offer

He wrote about this on his Telegram channel.

"I have accepted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal to head the President's Office. I continue to serve Ukraine. I view the position of head of the President's Office as another frontier of responsibility before the country. For me, this is an honor and a responsibility – at this historic time for Ukraine, to focus on critically important issues of our state's strategic security," Budanov stated.

"I met with Kyrylo Budanov and offered him to head the President's Office," the president noted.

In his view, the state currently needs greater focus on security issues, development of Ukraine's Defense and Security Forces, as well as on the diplomatic direction of negotiations. These tasks, he said, should become key priorities for the work of the President's Office.

"Kyrylo has specialized experience in these areas and sufficient strength to achieve results. I have also instructed the new head of the President's Office, in coordination with the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and other necessary leaders and institutions, to update and present for approval the strategic foundations of defense and development of our state and further steps," Zelenskyy concluded.

Background

On November 28, Andriy Yermak submitted a letter of resignation from the position of head of the President's Office. Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the resignation with a corresponding decree.

That same day, employees of NABU and SAPO conducted searches at the home of the now-former head of the President's Office. In a message to a journalist from the New York Post, former head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak said he would go to the front.

On November 29, Ukrainska Pravda, citing sources, reported that NABU and SAPO seized several phones and laptops during searches at Andriy Yermak's location.

On December 8, Zelenskyy, while speaking with journalists, confirmed that he was considering the candidacies of Fedorov, Shmyhal, and Budanov for the position of the head of the President's Office, but later frankly admitted that appointing a new person to the role of the head of the President's Office now appears to be an extremely challenging task.