Ukraine's Foreign Minister Steps Down Amid Biggest Cabinet 'Reboot' Of War
And now Ukraine's top diplomat is out, amid an ongoing major Zelensky shake-up of his cabinet - the biggest of the war. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, one of the country's most recognized faces after two-and-a-half years of war, has resigned Wednesday. This comes after the night prior six top officials, including several ministers, were also forced out. Some, however, are expected to take up other government positions.
David Arakhamia, who is head of the ruling Servant of the People group in parliament, wrote on Telegram: "As promised, a major reboot of the government can be expected this week." He identified that Wednesday would be "the day of lay-offs, and the day after . . . the day of appointments."
"Kuleba, 43, didn’t give a reason for stepping down. His resignation will be discussed by lawmakers at their next session, parliamentary Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on his Facebook page," Associated Press writes.
Lawmakers said that Kuleba submitted to parliament a handwritten letter dated Sept.4 which asked the body to "accept my resignation from the post of the minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine."
Kuleba was instrumental in helping to line up record-setting defense aid and deliveries of foreign arms for Kiev, including lobbying Washington last year to receive Patriot missiles. He's also been seen as key in getting the West to greenlight missile strikes inside Russian territory and has of late been arguing that restrictions on long-range systems should be removed.
This brings to the number to at least seven Ukrainian officials, including several ministers, who have now resigned amid the broad cabinet reshuffle. President Zelensky has said this is part of an effort to "give new strength" to Ukraine’s institutions.
"Autumn will be extremely important for Ukraine. And our state institutions must be set up in such a way that Ukraine will achieve all the results we need — for all of us," Zelensky in a Tuesday night address to the nation. "To do this, we need to strengthen some areas in the government — and personnel decisions have been prepared."
He said even after the large-scale resignations there are more changes or turnover soon to come within his cabinet and that "certain areas of our foreign and domestic policies will have a slightly different emphasis."
The below list includes Tuesday nights resignations which had preceded Kuleba's stepping down by a matter of hours:
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration
Iryna Vereshchuk, deputy prime minister for the reintegration of temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine
Oleksandr Kamyshin, the minister of strategic industries
Denys Malyuska, who was Zelensky's justice minister
Ruslan Strilets, minister of environmental protection and natural resources
Vitaliy Koval, head of the state property fund
Ukraine officials have strongly hinted that more resignations are expected to come. Some of the above are likely to stay on in government, in other positions.
Some pundits are viewing Kuleba's sacking as part of a downward and bleak turn for Kiev as the war tide is against it...
Breaking: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba was forced to resign days after he admitted that Ukraine is losing the war and that the West is to blame for it. The Zelenskyy regime is on its last breath. pic.twitter.com/C86zaUFqvO
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) September 4, 2024
Given all of this, as defeat draws near and now looks inevitable for Ukraine forces in Donetsk, it is very possible these significant government changes could be coming as directives from Washington and London. Could this major reshuffle and cabinet 'reform' be a Western condition for more immediate military support? Zelensky could also be desperately trying to stave off an expected instability in his government by trying to preempt deep criticism over this decision-making, particularly when it comes to the Kursk offensive and serious manpower problems.