Andriy Yermak resigns as head of Ukrainian president’s office
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Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office and the country’s lead negotiator in peace talks, has resigned, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.
“Russia very much wants Ukraine to make mistakes. We will not make any,” Zelensky said in his daily address. “Our work goes on. Our struggle goes on. We have no right to ease up, no right to retreat or fall out with each other. If we lose our unity, we risk losing everything — ourselves, Ukraine, our future.”
The announcement came hours after officers from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) raided Yermak’s home.
A decree on Yermak’s dismissal, signed by Zelensky, was published on the official website of the President’s Office shortly after Friday’s announcement. Zelensky also said in his address that there would be a “reset” of the President’s Office.
I am grateful to Andriy for always representing Ukraine’s position on the negotiation track exactly as it should be represented. It has always been a patriotic position. But I want to eliminate any rumors and speculation. As for the new Head of the Office — tomorrow I will hold consultations with those who may lead this institution.
Yermak had served as Zelensky’s chief of staff since February 2020. One of Zelensky’s key allies, the media regularly described him as the second most influential person in the country after the president.
After anti-corruption investigators uncovered an embezzlement scheme at the state energy company Energoatom earlier this month, many politicians began calling on Zelensky to dismiss Yermak. On November 20, at a meeting with members of his own party, the president signaled that he had no intention of doing so.