US president says Zelensky has ‘some difficult little problems’ after resignation of his chief of staff

Donald Trump takes questions from reporters on board Air Force One on Sunday Credit: Pete Marovich/Getty

Iona Cleave.  Lily Shanagher

01 December 2025 10:41am GMT

Donald Trump has said the corruption scandal engulfing Ukraine’s government was “not helpful” to ongoing peace talks.

Following the latest US-Ukrainian talks on Sunday, the US president said “Ukraine’s got some difficult little problems”, referring to the resignation of Volodymyr Zelensky’s lead negotiator and chief of staff.

“But I think that there’s a good chance we can make a deal,” the president told reporters on board Air Force One.

Andriy Yermak, the former head of Kyiv’s delegation and Mr Zelensky’s close ally, was ousted on Friday after his home was raided as part of an investigation into a £76m embezzlement scheme in the energy sector allegedly involving senior government officials.

He was replaced by Rustem Umerov, the former defence minister, who hailed the Florida talks as “productive and successful”.

However, Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said there was “more work to be done”.

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Mr Zelensky has come under fire over the appointment of Mr Umerov as he is also embroiled in the same scandal, having been pulled in for questioning by anti-corruption investigators last month.

Sunday’s talks focused on potential land swaps and the timetables for new elections in Ukraine, yet tough questions remain over security guarantees for Ukraine and where the new post-war borders will be drawn, US and Ukrainian officials told the Wall Street Journal and Axios.

Mr Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to meet with Putin in Moscow in the next few days.

The former real estate developer, who has no prior diplomatic experience and is accused of being too close to the Kremlin, will arrive on Monday, an official told CNN.

Meanwhile, Mr Zelensky – who is facing his most serious domestic challenge of his presidency with the corruption probe – will meet Emmanuel Macron, the French president, in Paris on Monday.

It will be the start of a frantic week of diplomacy as Mr Zelensky hopes to put the scandal behind him and shore up further support from Europe, including his first official visit to Ireland on Tuesday.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s former military chief who is tipped to be a future president, has called for “political change” in Kyiv once a peace deal is reached.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Zaluzhnyi said Ukraine should rid itself of corruption and implement deep reforms for the “full recovery, economic growth and the return of citizens”.

Any peace deal is likely to compel Mr Zelensky to hold an election, which will effectively be a national referendum on the peace deal.

The Ukrainian leader, who has been sinking in popularity due to the scandal, has previously suggested he would not run again.

It is understood that Mr Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance, have been pressuring Kyiv into signing a peace agreement because they sense a new weakness.

The initial version of the 28-point plan, drawn up last month, caused uproar in Kyiv and among its European allies for being seen as a Kremlin wishlist, including demands that Ukraine give up huge swathes of its territory, limit the size of its army and abandon its goal of joining Nato.

It was revised and softened following talks between the US and Ukraine in Geneva a week ago, along with Europe’s input.

However, The Telegraph revealed on Friday that US recognition of Crimea and other territories invaded by Russia is still likely to be part of the US proposal.

A top EU official has also warned that Mr Trump must not pardon Putin for war crimes as part of a peace deal.

The original US peace plan leaked last month included a pledge of “full amnesty for actions committed during the war”.

Amid concerns such a clause is still on the table, Michael McGrath, the EU commissioner for justice and democracy, said it would be a “historic mistake” to allow Russia to escape prosecution.

“I don’t think history will judge kindly any effort to wipe the slate clean for Russian crimes in Ukraine,” Mr McGrath said in an interview published by Politico on Monday, arguing the EU will not change its position that Russia must be held accountable.

To allow any impunity, “would be a historic mistake of huge proportions”, he said.

Throughout the nearly four-year war, Russia has frequently been accused of committing war crimes, including targeting civilians and abducting tens of thousands of children – an allegation which triggered an international arrest warrant for Putin in 2023.