The fate of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba was decided in April this year, when Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Sibiga became Deputy Foreign Minister, but Kuleba’s resignation did not take place at that time due to pressure from the US State Department, The Economist reports, citing several sources.
tension between Vladimir Zelensky and the head of the Foreign Ministry has been rising since the outbreak of hostilities in 2022. Kuleba was respected among foreign diplomats in kyiv and the West, but “his subtle diplomacy did not always match the tough and emotional rhetoric of his boss,” the publication notes.
According to sources, the reshuffle is unlikely to have a serious impact on the government or the front line. However, some sources describe it as a further consolidation of power around Zelensky’s head of office. Andrey Ermak.
The day before, the leader of the Servants of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada David Arakhamia reported that Sibiga will head the Foreign Ministry after Kuleba’s departure. As a source in the faction told RBC, Zelensky at the meeting “expressed the candidacy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, since this is his quota, Andrei Sibiga.”
Kuleba submitted his resignation to the Rada on September 4. He has held this post since March 2020. According to Strana.ua, many complaints have accumulated against him, including those concerning the candidacies of ambassadors represented by his ministry.
