Zelensky has lost his right hand man. What now?
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On Friday, Ukrainians woke up to the news that the home of presidential chief of staff and top peace negotiator, Andriy Yermak, was being searched by anti-corruption authorities.
Although they didn’t accuse him of wrongdoing, by the evening he had submitted his resignation. So how damaging could the downfall of such a close ally be for President Zelensky, and what could it mean for peace talks?
Victoria and Vitaly are joined by Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse to discuss the reaction in Kyiv and beyond.
We also hear the thoughts of journalist and author Simon Shuster, who interviewed Mr Yermak for the Atlantic the day before his shock departure.
And, as an American delegation meet counterparts in Moscow, we look at reports that US special envoy Steve Witkoff has been coaching the Kremlin on how to deal with Donald Trump.
Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producer was Laurie Kalus. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The series producer is Chris Flynn. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480
You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | Hello, it's 1,378 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:11.7 | Anne Vitale, the flurry of diplomacy is continuing. |
| 0:16.0 | It is non-stop. |
| 0:17.2 | Just recap briefly for our listeners. |
| 0:19.9 | Okay, the latest is that a team of Ukrainian negotiators led by a security supremer, Rostem Umerov, |
| 0:28.2 | they were in Florida for talks on America's peace plan. |
| 0:34.0 | After the previous version of that peace plan, well, caused consternation in Ukraine and among Ukraine's allies, |
| 0:41.6 | who thought that it was incredibly biased towards Russia? |
| 0:46.8 | Now, after those talks, Steve Whitkoff, the key American negotiator for Ukraine, |
| 0:59.8 | and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, are heading to Moscow. |
| 1:10.1 | In fact, as we're recording right now, almost half-past three in the afternoon on Tuesday, they are in the Kremlin about to start talking to Vladimir Putin. |
| 1:15.5 | What sort of plan they've brought to the Kremlin, we don't really know. |
| 1:22.5 | And President Zelensky, speaking at a news conference alongside Ireland's T-Shok today, has said, quote, |
| 1:29.8 | now more than ever there is a chance to end this war. We are going to be discussing the talks, |
| 1:34.3 | and we're going to speak today to the journalist who published the final interview with President Zelensky's now former chief of staff before his bombshell resignation. |
| 1:40.8 | This is Ukraine cast. |
| 1:42.6 | Ukraine cast from BBC News. |
| 1:45.5 | This is a sovereign nation under unprovoked attack. |
| 1:49.6 | We are ready to finish this war as quick as possible. |
| 1:52.4 | Russia is not preparing for peace. |
| 1:54.4 | We are an enemy of NATO and we'll do whatever is necessary to ensure our security. |
... |
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