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With all eyes on Alaska for President Donald Trump‘s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy‘s right-hand man Andriy Yermak’s profile is rising, however not at all times for the appropriate causes.
As the top of the Workplace of the President of Ukraine, he’ll seemingly be by Zelenskyy’s aspect as soon as Trump calls following his assembly with Putin.
“Yermak is satisfied that he is received all of the solutions, regardless that, fairly frankly, he usually would not,” a former senior official within the Biden administration instructed Fox Information Digital.
His affect is taken into account second solely to Zelenskyy, and he has even been accused of constructing personnel strikes that not even Zelenskyy is totally conscious of.
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The senior official mentioned Yermak has his personal agenda and devises technique for Zelenskyy. He’s a key determine when it comes to personnel and determines who takes essential selections within the presidential workplace.
Andriy Yermak is head of the Workplace of the President of Ukraine. (Workplace of Andriy Yermak)
“He’s an unelected official who wields immense energy in Ukraine,” the previous Biden official mentioned.
Echoing this sentiment, a senior Senate Republican staffer mentioned Yermak is politically tone-deaf on Washington, D.C., politics and would oftentimes request conferences on Capitol Hill with out an agenda or concrete asks on behalf of Ukraine’s wants.
“Coping with Donald Trump, MAGA Republicans can be very completely different from coping with Joe Biden liberals, and you’ve got to have the ability to discuss to each camps on this city and be capable of do it on the identical time in a number of other ways. It is a exhausting factor to do. And he is simply horrible at it,” the staffer who requested to stay nameless instructed Fox Information Digital.
Like Zelenskyy, Yermak’s earlier expertise is in leisure, as a martial arts film producer and a copyright lawyer. He had no prior expertise in authorities earlier than teaming up with Zelenskyy to affix his historic presidential marketing campaign in 2019.
Zelenskyy appointed him as his prime advisor on worldwide affairs, however even his harshest critics admit that Yermak is somebody who will get issues accomplished.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and Head of the Presidential Workplace Andriy Yermak are assembly with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 22, 2024. (Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto by way of AP)
“Yermak is aware of the best way to manhandle the federal government and the equipment. He has put in loyalists all through the federal government. And so he can use all of these levers of energy to get outcomes,” Josh Rudolph, anti-corruption professional on the German Marshal Fund, instructed Fox Information Digital.
When energy is concentrated and personalised, as is the case with Yermak, errors can occur. Rudolph and others who spoke with Fox Information Digital mentioned it was Yermak who suggested Zelenskyy on the contentious February Oval Workplace assembly with Trump.
A number of Ukrainian officers who spoke to Fox Information Digital allege that Yermak was the drive behind Zelenskyy’s determination to signal a regulation that focused Ukraine’s unbiased anti-corruption establishments, which led to worldwide condemnation and the most important anti-government demonstrations in opposition to Zelenskyy’s authorities since Russia’s full-scale invasion started in February 2022.
“It was a plan made and applied by Yermak. Everybody else was simply the instrument on this plan. It was his thought to go after the anti-corruption regulation enforcement businesses,” Yaroslav Zheleznyak, chairman of the Finance Committee in Ukraine’s parliament, instructed Fox Information Digital.
Ukrainian servicemen of the twenty first Separate Mechanized Brigade fireplace a Leopard 2A6 tank throughout a army train, amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, close to a entrance line in Donetsk area, Ukraine, on Might 12, 2024. (REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/ File Photograph)
Zheleznyak described a dynamic the place Yermak acts as prime minister, protection minister, international affairs minister and the top of parliament, abruptly. He’s the one one who can communicate for Zelenskyy with any authority.
Zelenskyy finally reversed course in response to the massive outcry of opposition, and Ukraine’s parliament subsequently handed new laws to revive the independence of the anti-corruption businesses.
Yermak instructed Fox Information Digital by his spokesperson that, regardless of the criticism of a number of the inside decision-making inside Ukraine, Zelenskyy is firmly in management.
“Anybody who is aware of President Zelenskyy will inform you an identical: he at all times makes his personal selections. He listens, weighs the details and context — however he can’t be pressured. “That’s a part of his power,” Yermak’s spokesperson instructed Fox Information Digital.
He downplayed the latest outpouring of opposition to Zelenskyy’s transfer to weaken two key anti-corruption businesses and appoint a politically-backed lead prosecutor.
“If folks, particularly younger folks, got here out to specific their views — that’s democracy in motion. They usually weren’t protesting in opposition to the President — they needed to be heard. And the President heard them,” Yermak’s spokesperson mentioned.
President Donald Trump, heart, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, get right into a verbal argument within the Oval Workplace of the White Home in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28, 2025. (Getty)
Yermak’s been a pivotal conduit for Ukraine in negotiating with the U.S. and its European allies, significantly in pushing for harder sanctions on Russia. Whereas his unorthodox strategy undoubtedly rankles the sensibilities of the Washington, D.C., international coverage world and his compatriots in Ukraine, he’s nonetheless a trusted advisor with key allies.
“In each nation, sure posts are simply demonized by the media. Not due to the folks on them, however due to the place’s proximity to the chief. Regardless of the media reviews, I can solely share my private experiences working with Andriy. I’ve seen him within the bunker beside the President for the reason that first hours of the full-scale battle,” Ukrainian International Minister Andrii Sybiha instructed Fox Information Digital in an announcement.
“He was there. Working actually across the clock, able to tackle any activity, irrespective of how complicated. He’s a real workaholic, however he additionally has a humorousness that will get him by even essentially the most tough conditions,” Sybiha added.
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Private loyalty is one facet of Yermak’s character and energy projection that each one officers who spoke to Fox Information Digital confirmed was most essential.
Volodymyr Ariev, a member of the Ukrainian Rada with the European Solidarity political celebration, instructed Fox Information Digital that Yermak has constructed up an influence base that consists of loyalists and people who lack professionalism.
“Yermak is keen to be a prime particular person in diplomacy, however on the identical time, I do not assume he’s very efficient, particularly in relations between United States and Ukraine, and he has change into a bipartisan irritant,” Ariev mentioned.
He claimed that officers on either side of the Atlantic lack belief in Yermak.
White Home Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan, left, shakes palms with the Head of the Workplace of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, proper, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
Zelenskyy, Rudolph and others argued, is healthier when he takes counsel from different sources.
“Zelenskyy has achieved higher outcomes when listening on to his friends on the world stage, like President Trump and the European leaders, whether or not it pertains to his readiness to simply accept an unconditional ceasefire or the backtrack on undermining the anti-corruption establishments,” Rudolph mentioned.
Zelenskyy took calls from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, EU Fee President Ursula von der Leyen, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron as quickly because the disaster over the independence of the anti-corruption establishments blew up.
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The president finally listened to their direct pleas and promised them that he would repair the scenario, which he then promptly did.
Yermak’s function as Zelenskyy’s most trusted advisor might be put to the check as Russia continues to make regular positive factors on the battlefield with intense worldwide stress mounting for a ceasefire.
