On December 7, the head of the Military Intelligence Service of Ukraine (HUR), Mr. Kirill Budanov, affirmed that the country is fully capable of secretly listening to dialogues of senior Russian officials.
Speaking on local television, Mr. Budanov said: "We can, right. We have been given a budget to do that, but have not given any further details.
Mr. Budanov's speech came less than two weeks after records of calls between Russian presidential aidator Yury Ushakov and US President Donald Trump special advisor, Mr. Steve Witkoff and Russia's special investment advisor and Ukrainian negotiator, Mr. Kirill Dmitriev were leaked.
The content posted on an US news site shows that Witkoff seems to be suggesting how the Kremlin could present a peace plan that would suit Trump, while Dmitriev raised Russia's unofficial conditions to end the conflict.
The news agency did not disclose how it accessed such sensitive information. Russia has warned that the leak could sabotage negotiations between Russia and the US, but has not expressed any doubts to any side.
While President Volodymyr Zelensky's office denied involvement, Budanov's comments raised doubts about Kiev's ability to be behind the incident, especially as leaked calls showed Ukraine was left out of the talks.
In response to the wave of skepticism, an unnamed European security official said that dozens of countries could have penetrated Ushakov's calls, because he used an unsecured mobile phone.
However, according to a source from the British media collected from a US intelligence official, the leak is likely to have originated in Washington. This subject is said to have opposed President Trump's policies.
