Ukraine (Precise Post) – Ukrainian top security adviser Oleksandr Danylyuk announced his resignation Friday in a new setback for President Volodymyr Zelensky, caught in a global scandal after a controversial phone call with Donald Trump.
2′ A photo taken on September 2, 2019 shows the secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council Oleksandr Danylyuk listening to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speech during a meeting of the President with the new government members in Kiev. – Ukrainian top security adviser Oleksandr Danylyuk announced his resignation on September 27, 2019 in a new setback for President Volodymyr Zelensky, caught in a global scandal after a controversial phone call with Donald Trump. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP)
The surprise move by the respected reformer was the first high-profile resignation since comedian-turned-president Zelensky took office in May on the promises to fight corruption.
Danylyuk, the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, did not disclose his reasons behind the resignation.
But analysts say it may have been triggered by Zelensky’s hesitation to break ties with a powerful oligarch and take a clear position on the fate of the country’s largest bank.
“I confirm the information about my resignation,” he wrote on Facebook, adding that he would stay in his post until the president had signed off on the decision.
Zelensky’s office confirmed that Danylyuk, appointed in May, sent his resignation letter before the president’s visit to the US this week.
“The president will consider it after returning to Kiev,” it said in the statement.
Zelensky was caught in a scandal this week for a phone call with Donald Trump, in which the US president allegedly tried to pressure his Ukrainian counterpart into getting dirt on former American vice president Joe Biden.
Danylyuk served as finance minister under Zelensky’s predecessor Petro Poroshenko and played a key role in the nationalisation of the country’s largest lender Privat Bank in 2016.
