Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who served in the role since 2020, resigned on Wednesday as part of the biggest Ukrainian government shake-up of the war.
Kuleba’s move came a day after several other ministers also resigned. In total, six ministers have stepped down, and they will be replaced as part of a reshuffling that President Volodymyr Zelensky said would bring new “energy” to the government.
“We need new energy today, and these steps are related only to the strengthening of our state in different directions,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky’s term as president expired back in May, but he’s stayed in power because there have been no elections since the Russian invasion. Parliamentary and presidential elections have both been delayed due to laws that prohibit holding a vote under martial law.
At one point, Zelensky considered holding elections if the West would fund them, but he later ruled out the idea and has been under no pressure from the US or other Western backers on the issue.
The Washington Post noted that Zelensky is carrying out the reshuffle ahead of a trip to the US, where he’s expected to present a “victory plan” to US officials. Ukrainian officials have been pushing hard for the US to allow the use of US missiles in long-range strikes inside Russia.
Throughout the war, Kuleba was one of the leading Ukrainian officials pushing for more military aid and was not afraid to criticize Kyiv’s Western backers. He recently said that Ukraine’s biggest problem was the Western concern for escalation.
“Ever since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, the biggest problem Ukraine has been facing is the domination of the concept of escalation in the decision-making processes among our partners,” Kuleba said last week.
