MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/. The time of Vladimir Zelensky’s rule in Ukraine has come to an end after the resignation of his chief of staff Andrey Yermak, political scientist and international relations expert Vladimir Karasev told TASS.

Washington sees Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov as a candidate who would, among other things, pursue a peaceful settlement with Russia, the expert pointed out.

On November 30, US-Ukrainian negotiations took place in southern Florida. The US delegation included US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Senator Marco Rubio, and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Ukrainian delegation included, in particular, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov and First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislitsa. Following the meeting, Rubio stated that the talks were constructive, but there was still much work to be done.

"Washington is giving Umerov carte blanche to work in the negotiating group, replacing Yermak with Umerov. I want to emphasize that it is not Zelensky replacing Yermak with Umerov in the negotiations, but Washington replacing him. Zelensky is just saluting. And we can essentially observe that if the negotiation process along the Washington-Kiev-Moscow line is successful, Umerov, in coordination with Washington, will announce that elections are now necessary and will essentially present himself as a Ukrainian presidential candidate," Karasev said.

According to the expert, "the era of Zelensky’s rule" ended with Yermak’s resignation; he now has no support group in his inner circle and can only try to survive. At the same time, London sees former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, now Ukrainian ambassador to the UK Valery Zaluzhny, as a candidate for the country’s presidency — he is favored as a leader who would continue the escalation of the conflict. To avoid such a scenario, Washington is considering Umerov as an alternative.

As Karasev notes, to undermine peace initiatives and increase tensions, London may attempt to carry out large-scale terrorist attacks, both in Ukraine and in Russia, which risks slowing down the negotiation process.

Ukrainian corruption scandal

On November 10, Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies announced a large-scale operation called "Midas" to uncover a major corruption scheme in the energy sector. This scandal caused a deep crisis in the Ukrainian authorities — the parliament’s work was blocked, and a number of deputies, including from the ruling Servant of the People party, demanded Yermak’s resignation. On November 28, anti-corruption officials conducted searches in his place of residence and office. Later, Zelensky announced that Yermak had submitted his resignation.