Appointed Presidential Aide for Foreign Policy Issues in May 2019, Yermak offered a series of concessions to Russia and Russia-controlled Donbas.

Appointed Presidential Aide for Foreign Policy Issues in May 2019, Yermak offered a series of concessions to Russia and Russia-controlled Donbas. These moves were blocked by protests from Ukrainian civil society. On Feb. 11, Zelenskiy promoted Yermak to Head of the Presidential Office. Three weeks later, Zelenskiy purged most of the prominent, Western-oriented cabinet members, including Prime Minister Honcharuk, who previously ran a thinktank funded by EU and Canada. Over the summer, Yermak was seen as behind the purge of Ukraine’s central bank, a move contrary to the $5 billion Stand-By Arrangement signed June 9 with the IMF.