Trump wanted to impose sanctions on Yermak and other allies of Zelensky – MP

U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly considered imposing sanctions on Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, and other key figures close to President Volodymyr Zelensky in order to pressure the Ukrainian government into signing agreements on mineral resources.

This was stated by Holos party MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak in a video analysis on his YouTube channel.

According to him, two sanctions lists were prepared in the United States. The first included 17 individuals, among them: Andriy Yermak, former presidential aide Serhiy Shefir, film producer and Yermak’s business partner Artem Kolyubaiev, businessman and producer Timur Mindich, reportedly one of Zelensky’s closest confidants.

The second, broader list contained 279 names, including: all Ukrainian ministers, the leadership of the Office of the President, key MPs from the Servant of the People party, Zelensky’s business partners, colleagues from his former comedy studio Kvartal 95.

“Interestingly, the leader of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, Davyd Arakhamia, is missing from both lists — leading some on Bankova (the President’s Office) to suspect he may have been involved in their creation,” Zheleznyak noted. “Given Arakhamia’s long-standing conflict with Yermak, such suspicion is not unfounded.”

The President’s Office also suspects former President Petro Poroshenko may have advised the Americans to use this pressure tactic after sanctions were imposed against him by Zelensky.

According to Zheleznyak, information about the sanction lists appeared in a confidential mailing distributed to subscribers of a Ukrainian news outlet.

He believes the claims are plausible. Allegedly, the President’s Office had already been preparing for possible U.S. sanctions in the wake of a scandal involving the Oval Office, including contingency plans for how ministers and their deputies would be paid if sanctions were enacted. However, a conciliatory post by Zelensky expressing regret over the conflict reportedly defused the situation.