Zelensky reveals candidates for the head of the Presidential Office and evaluates each

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the Deputy Prime Minister and the head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation are being considered for the position of the new head of his Office Mikhail Fedorov, minister of Defense Denys Shmyhal, chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR) Kyrylo Budanov, deputy head of the OP Pavlo Palisa and first deputy foreign minister Serhiy Kyslytsya. The President said this in response to a journalist's question LIGA.net when communicating with the Ukrainian media.

Fedorov and Shmygal

"I have options for minister Shmyhal or minister Fedorov, but there is challenge here because the Rada has to remove them before I appoint them [to the Office]. And here I don't want it to be like in this game of Jenga, when you pull out one piece and everything falls apart. The Office of the President is important, but there are other institutions," Zelenskyy said.

As for who could replace Fedorov in the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the president said he "does not know" but added that "there are many young, smart people there, maybe Mykhailo will find an alternative to himself."

However, as for Shmyhal, he noted that the Ministry of Defense is more difficult: "Because the entire budget is there, the responsibility is there, the army is there – today it is the number one priority."

Zelenskyy is not sure that the Verkhovna Rada, together with the government, will be able to find a candidate for the post of Defense Minister: "They still can't find, to be honest, [new heads of the] Ministry of Justice і Ministry of Energy. I hope that this provision will be closed in the near future."

Nevertheless, the president added, the authorities are not discounting the options of appointing Fedorov or Shmyhal: "These candidates are good, all team players."

Kyslytsia

Regarding first deputy FM Kyslytsia, the president said that he is now "helping him a lot" in the negotiations. He believes that it is "also not easy to get this direction out of the diplomatic department."

Zelenskyy suggested that if Kyslytsia becomes the head of the Office, the focus of the agency's work will be more on international policy.

"I'm not sure about internal issues that Kyslytsia is ready to spend time on this and will be able to do it," Zelenskyy concluded.

Palisa

Regarding colonel Palisa, the president noted that he is "a very good military man" and is exclusively specialized in this area.

"I am sure that he will eventually understand these things. But for now, I think he will not have enough of this, and he will be distracted, again, by the war [which is his] priority," Zelenskyy explained.

Budanov

"Budanov is in charge of intelligence. The HUR is an important area. [He] can be the head of the Office, just like any of these candidates," the president said.

According to him, "we need to think about Budanov," since he is still involved in intelligence, which means we need to understand who will be in charge of the HUR instead.

"This is also a difficult question," Zelenskyy summarized.

"We need to decide"

The President said that "in any case, a choice has to be made" regarding the new head of the OP.

However, he added that if this goes on for a long time, he will "get used to the fact that he can manage without the head of the Office, and can live without [him] altogether." The president said this with a joking tone.

"Therefore, we need, need to decide," he summarized.

• Earlier, Zelenskyy's communications adviser, Lytvyn, explained that the president had not yet appointed a new head of his office because of ongoing negotiations with the United States and partners, on which format of work of the head of the department.