Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday as Kyiv faces a deepening political crisis and renewed frontline pressure, the Elysee Palace said.
The visit, announced by the French presidency, comes days after Zelensky reorganised his office and dismissed his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, following an anti-corruption raid that has shaken public confidence at a critical moment in the war with Russia.
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Macron and Zelensky are expected to discuss “the conditions of a just and durable peace” and next steps after recent talks in Geneva and Washington’s peace plan, the Elysee Palace said. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Paris wants to “move the negotiations forward.”
Barrot warned Moscow that it must accept a ceasefire or face “new sanctions that will exhaust its economy, as well as intensified European support for Ukraine,” comments published by La Tribune Dimanche said.
The trip to Paris coincides with renewed diplomacy in Washington: Zelensky said a team led by Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defence Council and head of the Ukrainian delegation, is travelling to the United States to engage on the U.S. plan to end the war.
Officials in Kyiv said the visit and U.S. talks are urgent as Ukraine contends with an intensified Russian offensive in the east and domestic upheaval after investigators from the National Anti-Corruption Agency (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) raided Yermak’s apartment.
Yermak, for years Zelensky’s closest aide and a central figure in Kyiv’s wartime decision-making, has been accused in media reports of involvement in a $100 million kickback scheme in the energy sector. Authorities have not publicly detailed the probe, and Yermak has said he is cooperating.
Zelensky announced in a video address that he would reorganise the Office of the President and that Yermak “has submitted his resignation.” Minutes later the president signed a decree dismissing him.
The allegation and the raid have sparked public anger, the presidency acknowledged, at a time when Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid threaten winter heating and civilian safety. The European Commission publicly praised Ukraine’s anti-corruption investigators for doing their work.
The removal is a political setback for Zelensky. Yermak had been widely viewed as both indispensable and divisive — a powerful gatekeeper inside the administration who opponents say concentrated influence and sidelined critics.
Domestic polling cited by Ukrainian analysts shows low public trust in Yermak, and political rivals have intensified pressure on the president to demonstrate transparency and unity ahead of any major concessions in peace talks.
The leadership changes and diplomatic engagements unfold as violence continues. Kyiv authorities said a Russian drone attack in the early hours wounded seven people and damaged residential buildings and vehicles; air-defence systems were deployed and residents were urged to shelter.
Separately, a Ukrainian security source told AFP that Ukrainian forces had targeted two oil tankers off Turkey’s coast with naval drones after suspecting the vessels were transporting sanctioned Russian oil; the Turkish transport ministry reported explosions on the ships.
With Zelensky due in Paris and negotiators heading to the U.S., Kyiv is attempting to project cohesion to Western partners while managing a high-stakes reordering at the centre of government amid an active war.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
