During his press conference to explain the humiliating Vovan and Lexus leak, Zoran Zaev said that it was natural for him to give phone numbers of regional leaders to the Russian comedians. Zaev gave the jokers the phone number of then US Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell and of Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.

It’s natural when I’m asked to give the phone number of someone who is in charge of South East Europe to someone who I honestly believed was the President of Ukraine. That is not a state secret, and of course I feel sorry I was abused like that, but at the same time I don’t believe that the conversation constituted revelation of state secrets. There were positions that I have repeated every day, regarding us here, the Balkans, the EU integrations, Zaev told the press.

In the discussion, Zaev revealed to the fake “Petro Porosenko” positions European leaders such as Angela Merkel has toward the Balkans, especially the proposed territorial swap between Kosovo and Serbia. As for the phone numbers, Zaev actually believed the Russian comedians that the President of Ukraine needs his help to get the private cell phone number of the US Assistant Secretary of State who was deeply involved in Eastern European affairs.

Regarding his use of the phone app WhatsApp to discuss sensitive matters with Alexis Tsipras, Zaev said that this communication was established in order to exchange ideas and motivate their ministers to action.

All the meetings held with regard to the Prespa treaty have their minutes, are archived in the Foreign Ministry and we followed all protocols, Zaev said, eventually promising he will consider introducing video conferencing in the future.