Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded quick results from his new top team after the biggest government reshuffle since Russia invaded his country in 2022.
Zelensky replaced a string of ministers in a shake-up that sources suggested was a bid for his office to exert more control over a host of issues related to the war, with Ukraine facing major challenges on the battlefield in the east.
“It is crucial that government institutions now operate as actively as possible –- more actively than before -– at all levels,” Zelensky said in an evening address published on social media.
He called on his new team to deliver more investment into Ukraine’s arms sector, advance negotiations on Ukraine’s EU membership bid, work to secure Ukraine’s financial stability and deliver “more support for the frontline.”
“There are dozens of such very specific tasks, and everyone in their position must deliver tangible results throughout the autumn,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky, a former comedian, shot to global prominence in February 2022 when Russia invaded.
He won respect, admiration and comparisons with Winston Churchill both at home and abroad when he stayed in Kyiv to lead Ukraine in a David-versus-Goliath battle against Russian forces.
But opinion polls show his popularity has dipped as the war drags through its third year, with no end to the fighting in sight and tens of thousands killed.
Zelensky said he hopes the reshuffle will inject “new energy” to Ukraine’s civilian leadership, with the changes coming seven months after he replaced his commander-in-chief in a major military overhaul amid setbacks on the battlefield.
New foreign minister
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s popular foreign minister, was the most prominent departure in the reshuffle, making way for his deputy Andriy Sybiga.
Sybiga, 49, a career diplomat who speaks English and Polish, also had a stint in the presidential office and is seen as closer to Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff Andriy Yermak.
Kuleba had been the face of Ukrainian diplomacy abroad, pressing the West to come to Kyiv’s aid after Russia invaded and keep up the supply of billions of dollars worth of weapons.
Ukraine’s Parliament voted on Thursday to approve the changes.
According to AFP sources, Kuleba did not want to resign but had been under pressure from Yermak and has been criticised for the functioning of his ministry.
While Kuleba’s diplomatic skills were recognised, his removal was also part of a bid by the presidency to exert a tighter grip on foreign policy, sources suggested.
“He was giving interviews, speaking beautifully, going on trips, this handkerchief in his jacket. He was engaged in self-promotion, instead of improving the work of embassies, working systematically on countries and getting their support,” a source in Zelensky’s circle said.
In an address to lawmakers on Thursday, Sybiga appeared to reference those criticisms of his former boss, saying success in the role was about “the result, not self-promotion and social media posts.”
He added that Ukraine needed “both long-range weapons and far-sighted foreign policy” to be victorious on the battlefield.
“How quickly we will come to victory depends on how well-coordinated our actions are both on the battlefield and in the international arena,” he said.
Zelensky also removed several of his own advisors in the reshuffle.
The shake-up comes at a tense moment for Ukraine, which is struggling to halt Russian advances in the east even as it mounts a shock offensive into Russia’s western Kursk region.
It also takes place ahead of an election in the United States — Ukraine’s main backer — that could see Ukraine-sceptic Donald Trump back in the White House, something that could threaten Kyiv’s ability to wage a war of attrition against Moscow’s better resourced army.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that the reshuffle “will not affect anything”, according to Russian state-run agency TASS.
Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday approved a string of other ministerial changes, including at the ministries of justice, agriculture, strategic industries, European affairs, environmental protection, culture and veterans affairs.
