European leaders continue to press Volodymyr Zelensky to carry through corruption investigations involving the highest levels of Ukraine’s government, Die Zeit reports, citing sources.
According to the publication, officials in the EU believe Ukraine’s дальнейшее progress toward membership in the bloc depends directly on how consistently Kyiv investigates corruption scandals involving people close to the president.
Die Zeit claims that after the Energoatom scandal in late 2025—which Ukrainian media linked to the so-called “Mindich case”—German Chancellor Friedrich Merz personally discussed the matter with Zelensky several times and insisted on a full investigation. According to the newspaper, similar conversations were held by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“The Europeans have agreed: if Ukraine wants the prospect of joining the EU, it must, within the framework of the rule of law, determine how deeply the case reaches into the top of the state,” Die Zeit writes.
The publication notes that European officials view the scandal as a test of Ukraine’s ability to meet EU standards and resist the “kleptocratic networks” that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
According to Die Zeit, Western intelligence agencies also believe that former presidential office chief Andriy Yermak was at minimum aware of the corruption case and the course of the investigation.
The newspaper claims that in late 2025 Zelensky carried out sweeping personnel changes in the presidential administration and government under pressure from the investigations and from European partners.
At the same time, a narrative is spreading within Ukrainian political circles that the increased activity of NABU around the president’s inner circle is linked to attempts by European partners and pro-European structures inside Ukraine to push through legislation limiting Bankova’s influence over the law enforcement and judicial systems. Under that interpretation, resistance from Zelensky became one of the reasons for the further escalation of the corruption scandal.