Spartz, an Indiana Republican and Congress’ only Ukrainian-born representative, accused Yermak of launching a “smear campaign” against her after she voiced concerns over his integrity.
“Mr. Yermak has launched a smear campaign against me,” she wrote in a press release published Monday, adding that many Americans and Europeans have “had serious concerns” with Yermak for a while.
“If Mr. Yermak was a statesman, as someone with an already questionable reputation, he would have resigned this winter after assuring the Ukrainian leadership that no attack by Russia was going to happen, which reduced Ukraine’s preparedness.”
The congresswoman added: “However, it is never too late to do the right thing.”
Her rebuke comes after Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry slammed the lawmaker for sending President Joe Biden a letter asking about allegations against Yermak.
She asked the president to brief Congress about Andriy Yermak’s “alleged dealings in connection with Russia.”
“We advise Ms. Spartz to stop trying to earn extra political capital on baseless speculation around the topic of war in our country and the grief of Ukrainians,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko.
Nikolenko said Spartz’s recent remarks are “an undisclosed attempt to bring back into American politics classic narratives of Russian propaganda about Ukraine’s leadership’s seemingly ties to Russia and to drag our state into U.S. domestic politics.”
“The Ukrainian side interacts with American partners as openly as possible, providing them with comprehensive information about the use of technology,” he continued.
“Further bureaucratization and prolongation of the process, which Victoria Spartz obviously wants, will only contribute to the further advance of the Russian invaders. The Kremlin is counting on such a scenario.”
Spartz said in her press release on Monday that since she outlined her concerns she has been accused by Yermak’s “puppets” of “raising this issue for political benefit.”
“Only those who do not understand American general election politics could make such a claim. There is no political benefit from this, but it is the right thing to do,” she wrote.
The congresswoman said she is raising the issue “publicly out of major concern,” after trying to resolve it internally “for some time.”
Yermak, a former copyright lawyer, has been accused previously by Kyiv analysts and political opponents of having close links to Moscow, Politico reported. The Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty program Schemes found company records allegedly linking Yermak to Moscow businesses.
He has denied the allegations that he has links to the Kremlin, Politico reported.
Newsweek has contacted Ukraine’s foreign ministry and Spartz’s office for additional comment.
