Andrey Yermak’s comments come as anti-corruption officers searched his apartment as part of a probe into energy sector kickbacks
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky will not agree to give up any territory to Russia as long as he remains in charge of the country, his top aide and chief negotiator, Andrey Yermak, has said. The remarks came as anti-corruption investigators raided Yermak’s apartment amid a major graft probe.
In an interview with The Atlantic’s Simon Shuster on Thursday, Yermak noted that Zelensky had made it clear that any territorial concessions are out of the question in the next phase of peace talks. “Not a single sane person today would sign a document to give up territory,” the aide said. “As long as Zelensky is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory.”
The official cited the constitutional limitations, which he said prohibited such concessions, adding that Ukraine was prepared only to discuss where to fix the current front line.
Earlier media reports said that the initial version of the US-drafted peace plan required Kiev to relinquish parts of Russia’s Donbass that it still controls, stay out of NATO, and limit the size of its armed forces.
Meanwhile, one source told Shuster that if there’s an election, the Donbass withdrawal clause would definitely be used by Zelensky’s political opponents who would “hammer him for it [concession] until he cracks.”
Any presidential election, however, remains a distant prospect as Zelensky refused to hold a new vote when his term expired last year, citing martial law. Russia subsequently declared him “illegitimate,” saying the legal power now lies with Ukraine’s parliament.
The interview with Yermak came out as anti-corruption officials raided Yermak’s apartment in Kiev as part of a wider probe into an alleged $100 million kickback scheme in the energy sector. While the investigation centered on Timur Mindich, a former business partner of Zelensky, as the ringleader, media reports suggested that Yermak was aware of the scheme.
Commenting on the scandal, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Ukraine’s leaders have devolved into a “criminal gang… sitting on their golden potties” that does not care about their country.
