Sept. 4 (UPI) — Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba submitted his resignation on Wednesday as Kyiv undergoes a major leadership shakeup amid its war with Russia.
Parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said Kuleba’s resignation will be considered at an upcoming plenary meeting that has not been set. Kubela has been one of the most visible members of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s cabinet since the war started.
He had taken the lead in helping Ukraine build international relationships during the war. He has served as the country’s leading foreign diplomat since 2020.
“It is a big reshuffle,” Parliament member Oleksandr Merezhko told the Kyiv Independent. “It was expected rather long ago. Perhaps this reshuffle is somehow related to the new period of challenges for Ukraine.”
Other recent resignations include Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska, Ecology Minister Ruslan Strilets, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishya and Deputy Prime Minister and Reintegration Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
The resignations come at a critical time in the fighting with Ukraine’s risky but so far successful counter-invasion of some western Russian land near its border and Moscow’s intensified bombing across Ukraine, including the one-time safe haven of Lviv.
In a speech on Tuesday, Zelensky said he hoped the upcoming changes would strengthen the government on its way to what many are predicting to be the country’s most difficult winter since Russia’s invasion.
“The autumn will be extremely important for Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “Our state institutions must be set up so that Ukraine achieves all the results that we need, We must strengthen some areas in the government and personnel decisions have been prepared.”
