The revelation that anti-corruption police are searching the assets of Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak could have huge ramifications for the Ukrainian political landscape and possibly even peace talks.
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Yermak to the Ukrainian political system. He combines multiple roles for Zelensky: most trusted sounding board, domestic political enforcer, controller of access to the president, main point of contact for foreign politicians, and chief peace negotiator. Yermak is such a powerful chief of staff that those who know how the president’s office operates describe his relationship with Zelensky as symbiotic.
Those who have worked with Yermak inside and outside Ukraine describe him as a hard-working and ruthless operator who moved against alternative centers of political influence in the country and worked systematically to gain political power.
With such influence inevitably comes enemies, and there are few among the Ukrainian elite who have a positive view of Yermak, although many admire his work ethic and political acumen.
Foreign politicians have often appreciated knowing they could use Yermak as a direct line to the president, but some have found him a frustrating negotiator, and people in the Trump White House have expressed a preference to deal with Rustam Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s Security Council.
Until now, Zelensky has always resisted calls to fire Yermak or even clip his wings, but those calls are likely to intensify if Yermak is now embroiled in a corruption scandal. Politically, getting rid of his chief of staff might be Zelensky’s smartest move, but people who know both men say the relationship is so close that it is hard to imagine Zelensky making that move.
A former senior official said a few months ago, “I think it’s theoretically possible that Zelensky could do without him, but in practice I can’t imagine that ever happening.”
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