Andriy Yermak from Zelenskyy, Andriy Yermak, faces growing criticism in the middle of praise

With all eyes on Alaska for the summit of President Donald Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin, president of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the profile of Andriy Yermak’s arm increases, but not always for the right reasons.

As head of the office of the president of Ukraine, he will probably be alongside Zelenskyy once Trump calls him after his meeting with Putin.

“Yermak is convinced that he has all the answers, even if, frankly, he does not do so,” said a former senior Biden administration in Fox News Digital.

His influence is considered in second place behind Zelenskyy, and he was even accused of having made staff movements of which Zelenskyy is not even fully aware.

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The senior official said that Yermak had his own agenda and designs a strategy for Zelenskyy. He is a key figure in terms of personnel and determines who makes important decisions at the presidential office.

Andriy Yermak is head of the office of the president of Ukraine. (Office of Andriy Yermak)

“He is an unaduminated official who exercises immense power in Ukraine,” said former Biden official.

Echoing this feeling, a member of republican staff of the Higher Senate said that Yermak was politically deaf to Washington, DC, and would often ask meetings in Capitol Hill without agenda or concrete asks the needs of Ukraine.

“Treating with Donald Trump, Magi Republicans is also very different to deal with the liberals of Joe Biden, and you must be able to speak to the two camps of this city and be able to do it at the same time of a lot of different ways. It is a difficult thing to do.

Like Zelenskyy, Yermak’s previous experience is in entertainment, as a producer of martial arts and copyright lawyers. He had no experience prior to government before teaming up with Zelenskyy to join his historic presidential campaign in 2019.

Zelenskyy appointed him the best adviser to international affairs, but even his hardest criticism admitted that Yermak is someone who makes things happen.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the left, and the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak meet Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in kyiv, Ukraine, on January 22, 2024. (Maxym Marusenko / Nurphoto via AP)

“Yermak knows how to mistreat the government and the apparatus. He has installed loyalists through the government. And therefore he can use all of these levers of power to obtain results,” said Josh Rudolph, anti-corruption expert in the Marshal German fund, Fox News Digital.

When power is concentrated and personalized, as is the case with Yermak, errors can occur. Rudolph and other people who spoke with Fox News Digital said that it was Yermak who advised Zelenskyy at the meeting of the controversial February oval office with Trump.

Several Ukrainian officials who spoke to Fox News Digital alleys that Yermak was the force behind Zelenskyy’s decision to sign a law that targeted the anti-corruption institutions independent of Ukraine, which led to international condemnation and the greatest anti-government demonstrations against the government of Zelenskyy since the Invasion on the scale of Russia started in February 2022.

“It was a plan developed and implemented by Yermak. Everyone was only the instrument of this plan. It was his idea of going after the anti-corruption agencies,” Fox News Digital’s financial parliament told Fox News.

Ukrainian soldiers from the 21st separate mechanized brigade draw a leopard reservoir 2A6 during a military exercise, in the middle of the attack on Russia against Ukraine, near a front line in the Donetsk region, in Ukraine, on May 12, 2024. (Reuters / Valentyn Ogirenko / File photo)

Zheleznyak described a dynamic where Yermak acts as Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief of Parliament, suddenly. He is the only one who can speak on behalf of Zelenskyy with any authority.

Zelenskyy finally overthrew the course in response to the large uproar of the opposition, and the Ukrainian parliament then adopted new legislation to restore the independence of anti-corruption agencies.

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Yermak told Fox News Digital through his spokesperson that, despite the criticism of some of the internal decisions in Ukraine, Zelenskyy is firmly in control.

“Anyone who knows President Zelenskyy will tell you the same thing: he always makes his own decisions. He listens, weighs the facts and the context – but he cannot be forced.” This is part of his strength, “Yermak spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

He has minimized the recent outpouring of the opposition to Zelenskyy’s decision to weaken two main agencies to combat corruption and to appoint a principle -supported prosecutor.

“If people, especially young people, came to express their opinions – it is democracy in action. And they do not protest against the president – they wanted to be heard. And the president heard them,” said Yermak spokesperson.

President Donald Trump, Center, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on the left, appear in a verbal argument in the White House Oval office in Washington, DC, on February 28, 2025. (Getty)

Yermak was a pivotal duct for Ukraine by negotiating with the United States and its European allies, in particular by putting pressure for more strict sanctions on Russia. While his unorthodox approach undoubtedly classifies the sensitivities of Washington, DC, the world of foreign policy and his compatriots in Ukraine, he is still a trusted advisor with key allies.

“In all countries, some messages are easily demonized by the media. Not because of the people about them, but because of the proximity of the position with the leader. Whatever the media, I cannot share my personal experiences with Andriy. I saw him in the bunker next to the president since the first hours of Fox News Digital in a declaration.

“He was there. Literally working 24 hours a day, ready to assume any task, no matter how complex he is. He is a real work executioner, but he also has a sense of humor that makes him cross the most difficult situations,” added Sybiha.

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Personal fidelity is an aspect of Yermak’s character projection and power that all those responsible for Fox News Digital have confirmed was the most important.

Volodymyr Ariev, a member of the Ukrainian rada with the European Solidarity Political Party, told Fox News Digital that Yermak had built a power base that consists of loyalists and people who lack professionalism.

“Yermak is willing to be a high-level person in diplomacy, but at the same time, I don’t think it is very effective, especially in relations between the United States and Ukraine, and it has become a bipartite irritant,” said Ariev.

He said that civil servants on both sides of the Atlantic lacked confidence in Yermak.

The national security adviser of the White House, Jake Sullivan, on the left, shakes his hand with the head of the office of the president of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, on the right, in kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday March 2024.

Zelenskyy, Rudolph and others have argued, is better when he takes advice from other sources.

“Zelenskyy obtained better results when listening directly to his peers on the world scene, such as President Trump and European leaders, whether it is his desire to accept an unconditional cease-fire or backtrack to undermine anti-corruption institutions,” said Rudolph.

Zelenskyy has taken calls from the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the chairman of the EU Ursula von der Leyen, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron as soon as the crisis on the independence of anti-corruption institutions exploded.

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The president finally listened to their direct pleads and promised to them that he would repair the situation, which he then did quickly.

Yermak’s role as Zelenskyy’s most reliable advisor will be put to the test while Russia continues to make stable gains on the battlefield with an intense international pressure assembly for a cease-fire.