Can Kyiv’s corruption scandal derail Russia-Ukraine talks? Trump says Zelensky got ‘difficult problem’

US President Donald Trump on Sunday (Nov 30) said that there was a “good chance” of a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine following recent talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky’s delegates in Florida. However, he noted that the corruption scandal in Kyiv that forced Zelensky to sack his chief of staff and top negotiator was not helping.

“Ukraine’s got some difficult little problems,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, referring to the corruption probe in Ukraine. “But I think that there's a good chance we can make a deal,” he added.

Hours after discussions in Hallandale Beach, north of Miami, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that more work was required to reach a Russia-Ukraine deal.

“This is delicate. It's complicated,” 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.”

While both sides described the talks as “productive”, a Kyiv delegation source told AFP that the discussions are “not easy”. Meanwhile, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (Dec 2).

Ukraine corruption scandal

Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has come under scrutiny as the nation’s anti-corruption authorities carried out a raid at his apartment on Friday (Nov 28). The investigators said that they had discovered a $100-million kickback scheme in the strategic energy sector earlier this month, sparking widespread public outrage. The revelation came at a time when Russia was blasting the country’s power grid, forcing blackouts across the country as Ukrainians faced heating outages in winter.

Despite playing a key role in negotiations, Zelensky’s chief of staff is a divisive figure in the country. His opponents have accused him of accumulating power, gate-keeping access to the president, and ruthlessly sidelining critical voices.