Ukrainian lawmakers voted on Thursday to appoint a new foreign minister and two new deputy prime ministers, as President Volodymyr Zelensky carries out his biggest government shakeup since Russia’s February 2022 attack.
Andrii Sybiha, 49, an experienced diplomat who does not have a prominent public profile, takes the reins of the foreign ministry, replacing Dmytro Kuleba, who has been one of the best known public faces of Ukraine in the West in recent years.
The new foreign ministry leadership is not expected to affect policy significantly; Zelensky and his office have taken the leading role in foreign affairs during the war with Russia.
The Ukrainian leader, who travels to the United States this month and hopes to present a “victory plan” to President Joe Biden, has said that Ukraine needs “new energy” and that this autumn will be important for Ukraine in the war.
Dmytro Razumkov, an opposition lawmaker, predicted the new appointments would change little, saying most decisions were made in Zelensky’s office, which was conferred considerable new emergency powers under wartime martial law.
Parliament re-appointed 38-year-old Olha Stefanyshyna as deputy prime minister in charge of European integration, while also handing her a bigger portfolio that includes overseeing the justice ministry.
Stefanyshyna said in her speech to lawmakers ahead of her appointment that “hundreds and thousands” of legal changes were required as Ukraine seeks to become a member of the European Union.
Lawmakers also signed off on the appointment of Oleksiy Kuleba, a former deputy head of Zelenskiy’s office, as a deputy prime minister in charge of reconstruction, regions and infrastructure.
Parliament is expected to appoint other new ministers on Thursday as part of the government reset.
Russian forces are inching forward in the east and have stepped up their campaign of missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities far from the frontline, hitting the power sector and other infrastructure in almost daily attacks.
Zelenskiy has said his team is preparing several important meetings with foreign partners in September to try to ensure Kyiv’s recaptures the initiative in the war.
In his latest evening address to the nation, he said the current priorities were securing supplies of air defences from the West, improving the situation on the battlefield and getting foreign help to rebuild his country.
He is expected to take part on Friday in a meeting of the Ramstein group of nations which supplies arms to Ukraine, Germany’s Der Spiegel media outlet reported.
Zelenskiy has repeatedly called on allies to lift restrictions that ban Kyiv from using Western weapons for long-range strikes into Russia.