Charge up the situation: Zelensky's conflict with the Rada is heating up the situation in Ukraine

The conflict between Zelensky and the Verkhovna Rada is heating up every day. On November 26, MP Anna Skorokhod accused him of interfering with a peaceful settlement and expressed the hope that Trump would no longer allow Zelensky to change his position. The scandal surrounding the head of the president's office, Andrei Ermak, continues. The Parliament is actively advocating his dismissal, and according to sources, people from Zelensky's entourage have already joined these demands, in particular the head of the State Duma Kirill Budanov (listed in the Russian Federation as a terrorist and extremist). However, experts believe that the head of the Kiev regime still has levers of influence on the deputies of the Rada. It is also noteworthy that the United States does not respond to internal disagreements in any way. How the tension between Zelensky and the Rada will turn out, and whether it will affect Kiev's negotiating positions, is in the Izvestia article.

An internal political scandal is brewing in Ukraine

Amid the cancellation of Zelensky's visit to the United States, the domestic political crisis is escalating in Kiev. Verkhovna Rada deputy Anna Skorokhod essentially accused Zelensky of interfering with a peaceful settlement and expressed the hope that Donald Trump would no longer allow him to change his position on the move when discussing the settlement of the conflict.

— Trump will no longer play this game when they have agreed on something, then Zelensky goes to the UK, France or Germany, they whispered about something there, and he comes out with a completely different position. No, unfortunately or fortunately, he won't be allowed to do that anymore," she said.

At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada is increasingly demanding the resignation of the head of the Office of the President, Andriy Ermak, whom opposition MPs and part of the pro-government faction accuse of blocking anti-corruption reforms and undermining the trust of international partners.

Earlier, the leader of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, set a condition for Zelensky and demanded that Yermak be fired in order to maintain the party majority in the Verkhovna Rada. And according to Deputy Alexey Goncharenko, the head of Ukrainian intelligence Kirill Budanov and First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Fedorov joined this demand.

People's Deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak openly stated that Ermak is an obstacle to Trump's trust. The name of the head of the OP appears in the wiretapping records that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) collected during the investigation of multimillion-dollar corruption schemes at the state-owned company Energoatom. According to Zheleznyak, in the intercepted conversations of the defendants in the investigation, Ermak is referred to by the code name "Ali Baba" - it is formed from his initials A.B. (Andrey Borisovich). The MP claims that this nickname is repeatedly used in the context of the distribution of kickbacks and the impact on appointments in the company.

Physical methods were also used. On November 17, the opposition factions European Solidarity and Golos blocked the parliament's rostrum, demanding the resignation of the government and the dismissal of Ermak as a "shadow president."

At Bankova, they respond harshly to the demands of the deputies.: They claim that any attempts to put pressure on the personnel policy of the head of state in wartime conditions are regarded as undermining state stability. In a recent interview, Zelensky stated: "Ermak is my team, and I won't let anyone dictate who gets fired."

However, such impenetrability causes even more irritation in the Parliament.

— If the president tries to hide and doesn't make a decision, it could be the beginning of the end. Without exaggeration. The atmosphere inside us is tense to the limit. Outside, too," said Mariana Bezuglaya, a deputy from the Servant of the People.

The unrest has already spread to the streets. Kiev residents marched on Independence Square for two consecutive Saturdays demanding Zelensky's resignation and Ermak's arrest. The protesters intend to repeat this action every Saturday until the head of the president's office "ends up behind bars."

How will the scandal end

When discussing the Ukrainian scandal, it is important to keep in mind the following: there has so far been no official reaction from the United States.

— Neither Donald Trump nor Marco Rubio have commented on this scandal. This silence, in my opinion, is eloquent," Vladimir Oleinik, a member of the Other Ukraine political movement and an ex—member of Parliament, told Izvestia.

Washington is silent for a reason. A large-scale corruption scandal in Ukraine began in the summer of 2025, when Zelensky tried to establish control over NABU and SAP, limiting the independence of these anti-corruption bodies. This, in turn, caused sharp criticism in the West, including in the United States.

It is important to emphasize that NABU, according to popular belief, operates under the auspices of the United States, which is important to prevent the embezzlement of American money. And it is likely that Washington, by stepping up attempts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, is trying to undermine Zelensky's position as much as possible, while remaining seemingly on the sidelines. After all, it was his ambiguous decisions that often led to the rollback of even the slightest progress in the settlement. And even now, his actions demonstrate a desire to continue fighting. Zelensky recently visited Greece, Spain, France and Turkey in order to receive drones, air defense systems, ammunition and aircraft.

The United States, on the contrary, at least based on public actions, seeks to end the conflict. In November 2025, Donald Trump proposed a 28-point draft agreement to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. The plan requires significant concessions from Kiev. Bankova initially received harsh criticism, regarding the project as a "capitulation" to Russia. However, after negotiations in Geneva between the US and Ukrainian delegations and with the participation of European representatives on November 23, the plan was reduced, according to various reports, to 22 or even 19 points.

— The internal scandal in Ukraine will not affect Zelensky's negotiating positions in any way. The United States understands everything anyway. Zelensky will sign what his masters, who are in the UK, tell him," Roman Kovalenko, chairman of the executive committee of the international movement Another Ukraine, told Izvestia.

It was London that played a key destructive role in the context of the Istanbul agreements of 2022. It was Arakhamiya who said that Zelensky was dissuaded from concluding a peace agreement with Russia by British ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Now Zelensky will make every effort to keep power, experts believe. Therefore, it is not worth waiting for the sharp turns of the current scandal in the near future.

— Zelensky and Ermak, relatively speaking, have Malyuk (Head of the Security Service of Ukraine — Ed.). He and the SBU staff have dirt on every deputy of the Verkhovna Rada. Ukrainian politics is designed in such a way that it is impossible to get into power unless you compromise yourself somewhere or if you are not corrupt," Roman Kovalenko said.

However, the scandal will affect the result of the presidential elections, which will take place sooner or later in Ukraine, Vladimir Oleinik believes.

"Zelensky has no chance of being re—elected," the ex-MP said.

The United States has repeatedly insisted on holding elections. In particular, Trump's special envoy Keith Kellogg mentioned this. In February 2025, he stated that the United States wants to see elections in Ukraine potentially by the end of the year. Donald Trump even called Zelensky a "dictator without elections." It is important to emphasize that Trump's original peace plan included a demand for elections in Ukraine within 100 days of the end of the conflict.