'Bipartisan irritator': Capitol Hill is fed up with this top foreign official

Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, is increasingly rubbing lawmakers on Capitol Hill the wrong way, Politico reported on Thursday evening.

"Yermak has made regular trips to Washington since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has acted as an intermediary to Ukraine’s president," reported Amy Mackinnon and Jamie Dettmer. "But many in Washington have found Yermak to be uninformed about U.S. politics, abrasive and overly demanding with U.S. officials — and generally unable to navigate the inner workings of the Washington establishment on Capitol Hill. Some also worry he has not accurately conveyed U.S. positions to the leadership back in Ukraine."

More than a dozen officials spoke to Politico with similar complaints, "including congressional aides, former U.S. and Ukrainian officials and others informed of Yermak’s interactions in Washington."

Yermak was described by one source as a "bipartisan irritator."

Addressing the reporting, Yermak defended his work and said he was simply doing everything he could for the defense of his home country

“If that means being considered ‘challenging’ by others — so be it. I will wait many more hours outside any door if that helps my country and my president’s mission," he said. "I have no ambition to fully grasp how American politics works — I come to speak about the country I know best: Ukraine.”

This comes as the war drags into its third year, with Russia having been held to a stalemate with little new territory conquered since the original invasion, but also little signs of their capacity to continue the offensive breaking. Ukraine has done all it can to press the United States and its allies in Europe for as much military assistance as possible.

President Donald Trump, despite negotiating a minerals deal with Ukraine earlier this year, has been consistently skeptical of America maintaining its posture helping the country repel the Russian invasion, repeatedly demanding the two sides come to a peace agreement, and frequently expressing sympathy for Russia's Vladimir Putin, even complaining about the G7 not letting him into their summit.