FLORIDA, USA, 01 Dec. - (ANA) - Volodymyr Zelensky’s new chief negotiator in Ukraine’s peace talks is embroiled in the same corruption scandal that ousted Andriy Yermak, the previous head of Kyiv’s delegation.

 

Rustem Umerov led the Ukrainian team’s high-level peace talks with US secretary of state Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s top envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, in Florida on Sunday.

 

The former defence minister hailed the talks as “productive and successful” while Mr Rubio said there was “more work to be done”.

 

Mr Umerov was a last-minute call-up, swooping in to replace Mr Yermak, who had led the Ukrainian negotiating team until his resignation on Friday after his home was raided as part of an anti-corruption investigation into a £76 million corruption scandal.

 

But the Ukrainian president was criticised for the “bewildering” new appointment and accused of choosing his “cronies over professionals”.

 

Mr Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, was reportedly questioned by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and asked to testify as part of its probe into the energy sector corruption scandal.

 

He has also been accused of failing to declare he owned eight properties in the US, allegations he has denied.

 

Bohdan Nahaylo, chief editor of Kyiv Post, questioned why Mr Zelensky had chosen to entrust the negotiations to Mr Umerov instead of one Ukraine’s experienced former ministers.

 

“This decision represents a troubling prioritisation of personal loyalty over professional competence at precisely the moment when Ukraine can least afford such indulgence”, he wrote.

 

Mr Nahaylo accused Mr Zelensky of bypassing qualified professionals in favour of “personal confidants and political loyalists.”

 

He wrote: “This is straight out of the Trump playbook: appoint your real estate buddy as peace envoy instead of actual diplomats.”

 

Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer and golf course owner with no prior diplomatic experience, is leading the US team in the talks with Mr Umerov.

 

Mr Nahaylo added: “Side-lining career diplomats in favour of presidential favourites is not just poor governance; in circumstances like these, it borders on national self-sabotage.”

 

Ukrainian politician Volodymyr Ariev told the Washington Post Mr Zelensky had “resigned one corruption scandal [figure] and appointed as the head of the negotiating team another one.”

 

He said Ukraine needs officials who are not loyal to the president “but professional and oriented to defend Ukraine’s interests.”

 

After the high-level talks on Sunday, Mr Rubio said: “There are a lot of moving parts, and obviously there’s another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week, when Mr. Witkoff travels to Moscow, although we’ve also been in touch in varying degrees with the Russian side, but we have a pretty good understanding of their views as well.”

 

Speaking before the talks began, Mr Umerov said: “We are discussing about the future of Ukraine, about the security of Ukraine, about no repetition of aggression of Ukraine, about prosperity of Ukraine, about how to rebuild Ukraine.

 

“We’re thankful for the efforts of the United States and its team in helping us. The US is hearing us, US is supporting us, the US is walking beside us, and we’re thankful for all that has been done.”

 

The Florida talks kick off a week of diplomacy, which will be followed by a meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, and Emmanuel Macron,his French counterpart, in Paris on Monday.

 

Later in the week, US officials including Mr Witkoff are expected to travel to Moscow for direct talks on ending the war.

 

At least six people were killed and dozens injured in Russian strikes across Ukraine over the weekend.

 

In Kyiv, a drone strike on the outskirts of the capital killed one person and injured 11, according to officials.

 

In the Black Sea, Ukraine carried out a series of drone strikes on Russian oil tankers understood to be part of Moscow’s sanctions-evading shadow fleet.

 

The two vessels, the Kairos and Virat, were struck by Sea Baby drones, according to Ukrainian media reports.

 

There were also unconfirmed reports on Sunday of a Panama-flagged vessel, which allegedly transports Russian oil, being sunk off the coast of Senegal, west Africa.

 

This week’s crunch diplomatic talks are expected to focus on the Trump peace plan, a 28-point long-term ceasefire that was drawn up by Mr Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, a negotiator for Vladimir Putin.

 

The initial version of the plan, drawn up last month, caused immense controversy when it was leaked as it demanded that Kyiv give up huge swathes of its territory, limit the size of its army and abandon its goal of joining Nato.

 

Alarmed EU leaders responded by holding talks in Geneva with Mr Rubio and Ukrainian officials which sought to remove some of the plan’s most Russia-friendly clauses, reportedly in return for letting Russia back into the G8.

 

The plan has since been revised, with the new version supposedly less favourable to Putin.

 

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.

 

Later on Sunday, Mr Zelensky said he had spoken with Alexander Stubb, the Finnish president, about the negotiations to come this week and some “signals” he had received from Washington.

 

“This week will involve a lot of work with partners in Europe, and it is important that we all share the same view of the situation and the understanding that pressure on Russia as the sole cause of this war – not on Ukraine – can actually work for peace,” said Mr Zelensky.

 

Mr Trump said on Sunday night there was a “good chance” of a deal, but cautioned that the corruption scandal roiling Kyiv was not helpful.”

 

“Ukraine’s got some difficult little problems...but I think that there’s a good chance we can make a deal,” the president told reporters on board Air Force One.

 

The Ukrainian president also announced the appointment of his former US ambassador, who left Washington after clashing with the Trump administration, to a new senior government role.

 

Oksana Markarova will serve as Ukraine’s adviser on reconstruction and investment issues, a role that focuses on Ukrainian prosperity after the war.

 

Ms Markarova was famously caught on camera closing her eyes and putting her head in her hand during Mr Trump’s ill-tempered first Oval Office meeting with Mr Zelensky in February. - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/01 December 2025 - - -