Zelenskyy seeks ‘new energy’ with Ukraine’s biggest wartime cabinet reshuffle

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Ukraine’s parliament has appointed a new wartime cabinet after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy carried out the biggest overhaul of his government since Russia’s full-scale invasion almost 31 months ago.

The Verkhovna Rada on Thursday dismissed several ministers who tendered resignations and approved nine ministerial candidates put forward by Zelenskyy’s ruling Servant of the People party, according to several party members.

But few new faces were appointed, with most of the nine positions filled by officials who were serving in ministerial roles or the presidential administration. Zelenskyy’s critics have warned that the cabinet changes are likely to further concentrate power in hands of the president and Andriy Yermak, his influential and controversial head of office.

Oleksandr Merezhko, an MP in Zelenskyy’s party, told the Financial Times that the president explained to his deputies late on Wednesday that a “new energy” inside the government is needed to take the country forward.

The decision to replace Dmytro Kuleba, one of Ukraine’s longest-serving foreign ministers, has been the most contentious. A career diplomat, Kuleba has been one of the country’s most effective interlocutors with Washington and EU capitals and played a crucial role in securing western military aid for Kyiv’s defence.

Andriy Sybiha, who has served as Kuleba’s first deputy minister since April, was appointed by MPs to succeed his boss. Sybiha, an experienced, multilingual diplomat, is seen as one of only a few insiders to have the president’s ear. He has also been deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office in charge of foreign policy, served as ambassador to Turkey and held two posts at Ukraine’s embassy in Poland, roles that will help him navigate two important relationships as the new foreign minister.

Ukraine’s new foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha © Altan Gocher/NurPhoto/Getty Images

The shake-up comes as Kyiv has reached a crucial point in the war against Russia, as it fights to halt Moscow’s steady advance towards the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine while trying to solidify its hold on about 1,000 sq km of territory in Russia’s Kursk region. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that his army had begun pushing Ukrainian forces out of the area.

Meanwhile, Russia’s air strikes on critical infrastructure have increased concerns that Ukraine may be unable to restore enough of its energy production to light and heat homes this winter.

Uncertainty surrounding the upcoming US presidential election and internal pressures in the EU also worry Kyiv, which fears the long-term security and financial commitments it relies on could soon wane.

“We are entering a very difficult period, especially during the coming winter. And to meet these challenges we need changes in the government,” Merezhko said.

Smoke billows from a building on fire. The surrounding area appears to be rural with some vegetation
Smoke rises from a building following a Ukrainian military operation in Kursk last month © Screengrab via Reuters

Zelenskyy has offered little explanation for the reshuffle or its timing. In his meeting with party MPs, the president argued that some of the ministers he had asked to resign had grown too tired to do the job and could “no longer handle the mountain of issues that falls on them”.

Some MPs, including those within Zelenskyy’s party, questioned whether the reshuffle would revitalise the government.

“To be honest, there are no new faces here,” said one MP from Zelenskyy’s party who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Yarosalav Zheleznyak, a deputy from the opposition party Holos, said the changes seemed arbitrary and were happening now because the president simply “wants to change something”.

Several outgoing ministers, viewed as loyalists of the president, will return to the government in similar roles, according to David Arakhamia, head of Zelenskyy’s party in parliament. On Telegram, he shared a list of the new appointments that had been agreed by Zelenskyy and his party members.

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, was reappointed to the position but also appointed to serve as the country’s justice minister.

Others will move from the cabinet to the president’s office, including Iryna Vereshchuk, who served as deputy prime minister overseeing occupied territories. She will now serve as adviser to the president on social issues.

The parliament on Thursday appointed Oleksiy Kuleba, a close ally of Zelenskyy, to serve as deputy prime minister for reconstruction and minister of the enlarged infrastructure ministry.

Oleksandr Kamyshin, minister of strategic industries and former state railway boss, will also become a presidential adviser on strategic industries inside the administration. Parliament replaced him with Herman Smetanin, chief executive of state defence conglomerate Ukroboronprom.

Ukrainian officials with knowledge of the situation said Dmytro Kuleba did not want to step down as foreign minister but was told by the president this week that it was time to resign.

Western diplomats in Kyiv said they were not surprised by the move, as Kuleba’s forced departure had been rumoured for more than a year. But they were struck by the timing.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken wrote on X that he had thanked Kuleba “for his principled leadership of Ukraine’s foreign policy”.

Kuleba, in response, thanked Blinken “for his ironclad support for Ukraine”.

Source link

You May Also Like

On Our Island 5/10/2024 | Long Island Business News

Listen to this article Long Island Cares, State Farm partner to fight…

Arm IPO delivers $84mn fees bonanza for its advisers

Receive free Arm Ltd updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest…

Court rejects complaint by US reporter Gershkovich against pre-trial detention in Russia By Reuters

© Reuters. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands inside an enclosure…

New open source AI coding tool surpasses its inspiration: Google DeepMind’s AlphaCode

A new open source AI code generation tool, AlphaCodium, was inspired by…