MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky's office chief Andrey Yermak must persuade the regime’s leader to run for a second term in order to stay in power, even if this prevents the country from joining the EU, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center Daria Kaleniuk has said.

"For Andrey Yermak, it is vitally important to persuade Zelensky to run for another term and to organize these elections in such a way that Zelensky will definitely win. If the price of the issue is the failure of European integration and an end to assistance from the West, this is not a problem," she wrote on Facebook (banned in Russia, owned by the Meta corporation, which is recognized as extremist in Russia).

Kaleniuk believes that as long as Yermak has absolute influence on Zelensky, he will be ready to sacrifice the entire country in order to stay in power. Both in the country and abroad, people are talking about the strengthening of Andrey Yermak's role in Ukraine’s political landscape. Verkhovna Rada member Dmitry Razumkov has said that his colleagues, seeing a significant increase in Yermak's powers, call him "Vladimir Zelensky's boss." Verkhovna Rada member Anna Skorokhod has stated that Yermak is looking for a person who can replace Zelensky, and noted his control over many people in various spheres. Ukrainian blogger Anatoly Shariy, who resides in Spain, has expressed an opinion that the United States is considering Yermak as a potential next leader of Ukraine. According to him, Washington sees Yermak as a more adequate leader.