Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has submitted his resignation letter, according to Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaker of Ukraine’s parliament.
Stefanchuk announced on September 4 that Kuleba’s potential resignation will be “considered at one of the upcoming plenary meetings,” but did not provide a specific date.
Kuleba has been serving as foreign minister since 2020 and has played a key role in Ukraine’s efforts to engage international allies and secure new partnerships since the start of the full-scale war.
In August 2023, Kuleba addressed rumors of his dismissal on national television, saying: “I work, no job is permanent, and I’m totally calm about everything.”
He added: “I said at the very beginning that I would leave under two circumstances: the first is if the president asks me to do it. The second is if I get into some fundamental contradiction with foreign policy and don’t consider it possible to work with it.”
Ukrainska Pravda reported on September 3, citing unnamed sources, that Kuleba would be dismissed and that his replacement was still being considered. Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is reportedly the most likely candidate to take the position.
Kuleba’s resignation follows a number of other high-profile ministers submitting their letters of resignation, including Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska, Ecology Minister Ruslan Strilets, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, and Deputy Prime Minister and Reintegration Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. Vitalii Koval, head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, also submitted his resignation after nine months in office. The reasons for the resignations were not specified.
David Arakhamia, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People’s party in parliament, said on September 3 that the reshuffle would affect more than half of the government’s staff.
“Tomorrow is the day of dismissals, and the day after that is the day of appointments,” he added.
In March, Zelensky announced that Ukrainians can expect more government reshuffles in the future, following a shake-up of his inner circle. Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakov and Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi were dismissed in May.
