"Yermak slows down Ukraine’s cooperation with US" – Politico article
Current Head of the Office of the President, Andriy Yermak, is reportedly the main reason the US is hesitating to provide aid to Ukraine due to persistent and well-founded allegations of his ties to corrupt officials within Ukraine’s top leadership.
This was written by former US President Donald Trump’s advisor Steve Cortes in a column for Ukrainska Pravda, cited by Censor.NET.
He recalls that recently, the American outlet Politico published a sharply critical article about Yermak titled "Washington Has Had Enough of Andriy Yermak." The article’s subheading was equally pointed: "Ukraine’s top presidential aide is delaying Kyiv’s plans to cooperate with US officials."
Such a statement from Politico seems almost unbelievable to those working at the highest levels of American media and politics.
"Why?" Cortez asks.
In his opinion, Politico as a platform generally provides very positive coverage of Zelenskyy's activities. In fact, Politico, which is owned by a German company, is almost always an extremely reliable public relations tool for the American ruling elite, i.e. it supports corporate interests and Washington's allegedly wise foreign policy.
According to Cortez, Politico has been steadily promoting the growing US involvement in the war in Ukraine. For voters in the United States who share the "America First" policies represented by President Trump and Vice President Vance, it is surprising that even a biased media outlet such as Politico has suddenly come out so openly against Yermak, who is often seen in the US as Zelenskyy's de facto "co-president".
"The most problematic issue regarding Yermak is the persistent, well-founded allegations of systemic corruption that seem to always surround this influential politician. For example, when Ukrainian law enforcement investigated corruption involving Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, they had reliable evidence that he 'caused the state damages exceeding 1 billion hryvnias through a scheme of undervaluing land.' NABU even recommended removing Chernyshov from his key government position and demanded a large bail during the investigation. However, Yermak refused to dismiss this scandalous official, who continues to work under a shadow of suspicion."
Americans are outraged by such headlines. Despite the fact that the United States has the richest and largest economy in the world, the national debt there has reached the level of a real crisis.
"The majority of working-class Americans now regularly report great difficulty paying their personal bills. So the idea of sending huge amounts of money and equipment across the ocean to Ukraine is not widely supported by ordinary Americans - especially if the recipients of such aid are suspected of corruption," he continues.
"In addition to the ongoing corruption accusations, Yermak was the decisive factor in the dismissal of the heroic general who led Ukraine’s defense from 2022 to 2024 — General Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Yermak removed a man who enjoyed extraordinary respect and was so confidently considered untainted by corruption that General Zaluzhnyi had an incredible 92% approval rating according to a large-scale survey of Ukrainian citizens. Against the backdrop of numerous suspicions surrounding Yermak, it is unsurprising that Zaluzhnyi comfortably leads Zelenskyy in a potential presidential race (according to a survey conducted earlier this year).
So how can America trust a government that dismisses Zaluzhnyi but keeps Chernyshov?" Cortes adds.
"From the American point of view, it's obvious: The United States can only remain Ukraine's most important and reliable ally if the government in Kyiv is trustworthy, transparent and credible," Cortez concludes.
