Ukraine’s foreign minister has resigned as part of one of the biggest government shake-ups by President Zelensky since the start of the Russian invasion.
Dmytro Kuleba and five other ministers stood down after Zelensky said that changes were needed to strengthen his administration. All are believed to have been told to go by the presidential office.
“Autumn will be extremely important for Ukraine. And our state institutions should be configured so that Ukraine achieves all the results that we need, for all of us,” Zelensky said in an address to the nation.
When asked later about Kuleba’s removal, he said: “We need new energy.”
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Kuleba has been one of Ukraine’s most recognisable officials since the start of the war in February 2022. A fluent English speaker, he was 38 when he was appointed by Zelensky in 2020, making him the youngest person to hold the post of foreign minister in the country’s history.
He is known for not mincing his words, sometimes raising eyebrows with his undiplomatic language “Give us the damn Patriots,” he said in March, as Ukraine appealed for more US air defence systems to protect its cities against Russian attacks. On another occasion he told critics of Kyiv’s failed counteroffensive last year to “shut up”.
There had been rumours for months that Zelensky planned to replace him. The others following him out the door include Oleksandr Kamyshin, the minister in charges of arms production, and two deputy prime ministers, Olha Stefanishyna and Iryna Vereshchuk.
Kamyshin, praised for his efforts to ramp up Ukraine’s production of drones and missiles, said he would remain in the defence sector, but in a different role.
Andrii Sybiha, a deputy foreign minister, has been tipped to succeed Kuleba, according to Ukrainian media.
Kuleba’s resignation comes days after he started a diplomatic row with Poland, a key ally, by dismissing questions about the exhumation of Poles who were massacred by Ukrainian nationalists in the Second World War. Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, said he would not back Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union unless it agreed to the exhumations.
While no official reason has been given for Kuleba’s removal, Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst in Kyiv, said Zelensky was probably dissatisfied with his failure to deliver on several issues, including securing permission to use western missiles to strike deep inside Russia and setting up a modern-day “Nuremberg” court to try Russian war criminals. “The president is very demanding,” Fesenko said.
The row with Poland may also have played a role, but it would not have been the deciding factor, he added.
Fesenko said it was possible that Kuleba could return to the government in a new role, and noted that Zelensky was inclined to reshuffle his cabinet at regular intervals. It was also possible, he added, that Kuleba was experiencing “emotional fatigue”.
Kuleba was one of only a small number of ministers to have remained in his post since Denys Shmyhal, the prime minister, was appointed by Zelensky in 2020.
There is speculation that Kuleba, one of Ukraine’s most popular officials, could be put in charge of the country’s attempt to join Nato. A source close to the presidential office said Zelensky and Kuleba would “discuss and decide” his future post.
Fesenko described Sybiha, Kuleba’s expected successor, as a “workhorse”, adding: “The ministry’s style will change a little. There will be less flashiness, fewer harsh statements, more classical diplomacy.”
Zelensky will visit the United States next week, where he hopes to present a “victory plan” to President Biden at the UN General Assembly. His talks with Biden come as the US is said to be close to providing Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles that could hit targets deep inside Russia — something Zelensky has long argued is essential to his country’s survival. Reuters, citing unnamed US officials, reported there were plans to include the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile in an arms package to be approved in the autumn.
The missiles, which have a range of up to 230 miles, would allow Ukraine to target about 30 Russian airbases in cities such as Voronezh and Bryansk.
The Kremlin has warned of an “extremely painful” response if the move is approved. “They are losing their sense of reality, they absolutely do not think about the risks of further dangerous escalation of the conflict,” said Maria Zakharova, the foreign ministry spokeswoman.
The Kremlin said earlier it would update its rules and lower the threshold governing the use of its nuclear weapons, to counter what it said was a “threat” from the West.
