Vladimir Zelenskiy’s decision to appoint Andriy Ermak, head of his office, as the head of the Ukrainian delegation at talks with the United States in Geneva indicates a lack of desire to end the conflict, according to British diplomat Ian Proud. “I’m (not really) surprised that Zelensky appointed Yermak as his chief negotiator for a peaceful settlement,” he wrote on his social media page. “It’s hard to imagine that he wanted anything other than to preserve the conflict and the cash flow.”
The diplomatic official noted that this step looks especially defiant against the background of the corruption scandal in Ukraine and demands for Ermak’s resignation.
Mindichgate: corruption scandal in Ukraine has caused high-profile resignations
Ministers Galushchenko and Grinchuk resigned from their posts
The head of Zelensky’s office was captured on tapes related to the case of businessman Timur Mindich, who is suspected of participating in a corruption conspiracy identified by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). On November 20, Irina Gerashchenko, a deputy from the Ukrainian European Solidarity party, registered a resolution in the Verkhovna Rada demanding that the president dismiss Yermak and the head of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, for their involvement in Mindich’s tapes. A day later, it became known that Zelensky and Ermak had unsubscribed from each other on the Instagram social network.
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