Ukraine’s Prime Minister Vladimir Selenskyi has compelled ministerial officials to undergo lie detector tests to identify the source of a draft energy agreement with the US, according to the Financial Times (FT) on Saturday, citing government officials.
The tests were conducted in several ministries after Selenskyi instructed the Ukrainian domestic intelligence agency to investigate the leak, the FT reported.
The draft, initially reported by Ukrainian opposition member Jaroslaw Schelesnjak, outlined a mechanism for the US to manage the earnings from oil, gas and mineral projects in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials told the FT they were “surprised” by the scope of the recent US demands.
US President Donald Trump has been trying to persuade Kiev to sign the energy agreement since February, while refusing to offer specific security guarantees, arguing that joint business ventures would be enough to deter Russia.
Earlier this week, Trump accused Selenskyi of wanting to back out of the agreement and warned that he would face “big problems” if it did not come to pass. In an interview with CNN, Trump reiterated that Ukraine would “never be a member of NATO”.
The attempt to sign the agreement was abandoned in late February after a heated dispute between Selenskyi and Trump, as well as Vice President J.D. Vance, in the White House.
The US had planned to sign the agreement during Selenskyi’s visit to the White House in late February. “He came into the Oval Office and messed up what would have been the simplest thing in the world” said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson, published on Friday.