Andrii Sybiha becomes Ukraine’s top diplomat amid major cabinet reshuffle

Ukraine’s parliament has approved President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s nominee, Andrii Sybiha, as the country’s new foreign minister after accepting the resignation of Dmytro Kuleba.

The appointment of the deputy foreign minister as the country’s top diplomat on Thursday is part of the largest reshuffle of Ukraine’s government since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Zelenskyy saying the country needs “new energy”.

Kuleba, who offered his resignation on Wednesday, was not present in parliament for the vote. Local media reports said he would begin a new post for Ukraine’s integration into NATO.

Parliament has accepted the resignations of two deputy prime ministers and several ministers in the last two days.

Sybiha, a career diplomat, worked for several years in Zelenskyy’s office, overseeing foreign policy and strategic partnerships.

Analysts have said they expect no change in Ukraine’s foreign policy. During the war with Russia, the country’s top diplomat has often played second fiddle to the president’s office on many key matters of foreign policy.

Parliament is also expected to appoint eight other new ministers on Thursday as part of the government reset.

The shake-up comes at a tense moment for Ukraine, which is struggling to halt Russian advances in the east while carrying out an offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday the reshuffle “will not affect anything”, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

The leadership change also takes place ahead of the presidential election in the United States – Ukraine’s main backer – with the Republican nominee Donald Trump a Ukraine sceptic.

“We need new energy,” said Zelenskyy, when asked about the reshuffle on Wednesday. “And these steps are related to strengthening our state in various areas.”

US trip

Zelenskyy is preparing to travel to the US later this month to present what Kyiv has called his “victory plan” to President Joe Biden.

He will also participate in a meeting on Friday of the Ramstein group of nations which supplies arms to Ukraine, German magazine Der Spiegel reported.

Zelenskyy has been repeatedly calling on allies to lift restrictions that ban Ukraine from using Western weapons for long-range strikes into Russia.

The Ukrainian president’s elected term ended in May, but he has remained in his post because the country is under martial law.

Ukraine’s defence apparatus has seen several changes since the beginning of the invasion, including with the removal of army chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who was replaced by Oleksandr Syrskii earlier this year.

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