Expert: Ukraine corruption controversy weakens its negotiating position
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's response to a corruption scandal which engulfed Andriy Yermak came too late, security expert Rainer Saks said.
Yermak had until his resignation Friday been head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. The controversy and his stepping down weaken Ukraine's position at the negotiating table in any peace deal to end the ongoing war, Saks added.
Zelenskyy appointed Yermak, 54, as his chef de cabinet in 2020. Yermak resigned the post on Friday, after his home was raided by anti-corruption agents.
"The president reacted too late. Changes should have happened sooner. A clear turnaround should have been shown earlier. Replacing the head of the office earlier would have sent a stronger signal," Saks told "Aktuaalne kaamera."
"It is very hard now to measure the scale of the damage," Saks went on, adding the developments "will not make Ukraine's situation easier in the final outcome of peace talks."
The U.S. and the Donald Trump administration may now use the scandal to pressure Ukraine on peace talks, Saks said.
Yermak had tried to bring Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies under his own control in the aftermath of a deputy minister's alleged theft of hundreds of thousands of euros.
"The greater share of the image damage comes from the attempt to put anti-corruption structures under control of the presidential office," Saks said. "This move was strongly linked to Andriy Yermak."
Meanwhile Ukrainian political analyst Artjom Dudchenko said U.S. intelligence was likely aware of Yermak's alleged ties to corruption. "All foreign partners knew this," he said.
Unlike Saks, Dudchenko felt that his ousting might help Ukraine's position, however. "The absence of Andriy Yermak might improve the president's position in peace talks, not weaken it."
Originally a lawyer and movie producer, Yermak was seen by many as the second most influential person in Ukraine after President Zelenskyy, the BBC reported, but he came to be implicated in a corruption scandal involving senior government officials over the course of the autumn. Investigations by Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (Sapo) found US$100 million (over €86 million) had been siphoned off from public projects in the energy sector. This worsened the country's already fragile infrastructure at a time when this has been coming under heavy Russian military attack.
Zelensky's decision to centralize Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies under government control had also been controversial, sparking public protests and a backlash from the EU, which Ukraine aspires to join.
Yermak's exit has created uncertainty over the continuity of Ukraine's leadership in negotiations, particularly with the U.S., where he had recently taken part in talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Johanna Alvin
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
