KYIV (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked parliament on Thursday to confirm first deputy foreign minister Andrii Sybiha as Ukraine’s new foreign minister at a critical juncture in the war with Russia.
The nomination of Sybiha, which parliament is expected to approve later on Thursday, is part of the largest reshuffle of Ukraine’s government since the start of the war in February 2022, with Zelenskiy saying the country needs “new energy”.
Parliament has already accepted the resignation of Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, one of the most public-facing Ukrainian officials. It has also approved the resignations of two deputy prime ministers and several ministers in the last two days.
Sybiha, a career diplomat, worked for several years in Zelenskiy’s office, overseeing foreign policy and strategic partnerships.
Analysts have said they expect no change in Ukraine’s foreign policy. During the war with Russia, the foreign minister has often played second fiddle to the president’s office on many key matters of foreign policy.
Parliament is also expected to appoint eight other new ministers on Thursday as part of the government reset.
Zelenskiy is preparing to travel to the United States later this month to present what Kyiv has called his “victory plan” to President Joe Biden, a key ally.
He will also participate in a meeting on Friday of the Ramstein group of nations which supplies arms to Ukraine, German magazine Spiegel reported.
Zelenskiy has been repeatedly calling on allies to lift restrictions that ban Kyiv from using Western weapons for long-range strikes into Russia.
Russian forces are inching forward in the east and have stepped up their campaign of missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities far from the frontline, hitting the power sector and other infrastructure in almost daily attacks.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Gareth Jones)
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