So I'm going to try to lay this out in a way to make it as clear to understand as possible in hopes that I can figure out if this both a good idea, legal, and an effective strategy or if there is a better one to go by.

Business context:
I'm looking to open a web-based business, with a business name in the US so I can make a PayPal Business account, take online payments, etc.
The gentleman helping me develop the website, whom I would like to pay for his work properly, lives in the Ukraine (I think he moved to a different non-US country due to the political/war climate).

The issue:
I've read that, to have international employees, I would need to do something like make an international company or make one in each location where employees reside, and this isn't that big of a company - it would be primarily us and maybe a few contracted help.
Additionally, I don't have experience doing business taxes, so I would like to avoid a lot of the tax documentation if possible, without of course breaking the law.

The idea so far:
I read somewhere that contractors could be expected to file their own taxes (essentially no 1099 or withholdings needed for foreign contractors), and the gentleman has no problem doing so, so I wanted to treat him and any additional help as contractors and likely open the business either as a sole-proprietorship or preferably LLC for the better protections of the latter. The website is based around a social media platform so I would rather be careful as people on the Internet do tend to forget that other people are, in fact, people too.

My question:
Would it be legal, and if so, a good choice to make the business an LLC, then make my developer and any further help contractors to safely open a US business without making businesses in other countries, keeping a ton of tax paperwork on the individuals, etc?
What would be the best way to have an LLC, having foreign paid help, without the whole international business, additional tax forms, or other withholdings?
Finally, if at all possible, is there any way to make an LLC in the US which could have more standard-like employees without all that if possible?

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The primary need for the business, even in the infancy that it currently is in, is to ensure I have an EIN for the PayPal Business account to begin taking online payments. I also want to ensure I can take payments soon because the gentleman I'm working with has done so much to help me that I want to be able to get an income stream going so I can not only further advertise the site (for the snowball effect) but to then give him some additional income. This goes especially considering the global climate with Ukraine (he's safe in his new country by the way, which I'm thrilled to hear).

Thank you for any and all help, and I apologize for the strangeness and/or overly verboseness of my question. I just want to ensure I'm doing things legally, especially considering right now it's just two guys trying to make a great service for our users.