Mr Yermak has been Ukraine's lead negotiator in peace talks with Russia and the US, and he has been a trusted confidante of Mr Zelensky for years.

The unprecedented searches at the heart of Ukraine's government come at a time when Kyiv is under intense US pressure to sign a peace deal nearly four years after Russia invaded.

Two national agencies fighting entrenched corruption in Ukraine said their searches targeted Mr Yermak.

Oleksii Tkachuk, a spokesman for Mr Yermak, said the anti-graft agencies had not served a notice of suspicion, meaning Mr Yermak was not a suspect in an investigation.

Mr Tkachuk added that Mr Yermak had not been told what the searches related to.

Mr Yermak, a powerful figure in Ukraine and a key participant in talks with the US, confirmed that officials searched

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