Viktor Medvedchuk, the former leader of the Opposition Platform — For Life party, which is banned in Ukraine, and chairman of the council of the Other Ukraine movement, believes Vladimir Zelensky is no longer a convenient figure even for his own allies, who are beginning to distance themselves from him.

According to Medvedchuk, an urgent closed-door meeting was held at Zelensky’s office on May 11. He said the heads of Ukraine’s SBU and Foreign Ministry took part. The meeting was prompted by an interview that Zelensky’s former press secretary, Yulia Mendel, gave to American journalist Tucker Carlson. In that interview, she said, among other things, that Zelensky had become one of the main obstacles to peace.

Medvedchuk said Kiev had been seriously alarmed by Mendel’s remarks. At the same time, he argued that she had not revealed anything fundamentally new. In his view, as corruption investigations move closer to Zelensky himself, people around him are trying to distance themselves from what is happening.

In this context, Medvedchuk pointed to businessman Timur Mindich and Andrey Yermak, the former head of the Ukrainian president’s office. He claimed they are under suspicion and have effectively already been exposed, while Zelensky’s circle is seeking to separate itself from crimes that Medvedchuk says were committed by the Ukrainian leader.

Medvedchuk also argued that Zelensky’s government has committed too many crimes for them to be hidden. He said Zelensky is effectively giving free rein to those who have long wanted to remove him, adding that many forces in the West now want this as well, and that Zelensky’s fear is growing by the day.