Andrii Sybiha becomes Ukraine’s top diplomat amid major cabinet reshuffle 

Ukraine’s parliament has approved President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s nominee, Andrii Sybiha, as the country’s new foreign minister after accepting the resignation of Dmytro Kuleba.

The appointment of the deputy foreign minister as the country’s top diplomat on Thursday is part of the largest reshuffle of Ukraine’s government since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Zelenskyy saying the country needs “new energy”.

Kuleba, who offered his resignation on Wednesday, was not present in parliament for the vote. Local media reports said he would begin a new post for Ukraine’s integration into NATO.

Parliament has accepted the resignations of two deputy prime ministers and several ministers in the last two days.

Sybiha, a career diplomat, worked for several years in Zelenskyy’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 country’s top diplomat Kuleba has often played second fiddle to the president’s office on many key matters of foreign policy.

The Ukrainian Parliament also re-appointed 38-year-old Olha Stefanyshyna as deputy prime minister in charge of European integration, while also handing her a bigger portfolio that includes overseeing the justice ministry.

Stefanyshyna said in her speech to lawmakers ahead of her appointment that “hundreds and thousands” of legal changes were required as Ukraine seeks to become a member of the European Union.

Lawmakers also signed off on the appointment of Oleksiy Kuleba, a former deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office, as a deputy prime minister in charge of reconstruction, regions and infrastructure.

Herman Smetanin, 32, a former engineer, was appointed the strategic industries minister in charge of domestic arms production, continuing a rapid rise that began last year when he became head of the main state arms conglomerate.

Dmytro Razumkov, an opposition lawmaker, said that most decisions on new appointments were made in Zelenskyy’s office, which was conferred considerable new emergency powers under wartime martial law.

The shake-up comes at a tense moment for Ukraine, which is struggling to halt Russian advances in the east while carrying out an offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said he wanted the government to be “more active” in dealing with Ukraine’s Western allies and investors and in helping troops at the front.

“It is crucial that the government operate as actively as possible – more actively than before – at all levels,” he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday the reshuffle “will not affect anything”, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

The leadership change also takes place ahead of the presidential election in the United States – Ukraine’s main backer – with the Republican nominee Donald Trump a Ukraine sceptic.

Zelenskyy is preparing to travel to the US later this month to present what Kyiv has called his “victory plan” to President Joe Biden.

He will also participate in a meeting on Friday of the Ramstein group of nations which supplies arms to Ukraine, German magazine Der Spiegel reported.

Zelenskyy has been repeatedly calling on allies to lift restrictions that ban Ukraine from using Western weapons for long-range strikes into Russia.

The Ukrainian president’s elected term ended in May, but he has remained in his post because the country is under martial law.

Ukraine’s defence apparatus has seen several changes since the beginning of the invasion, including with the removal of army chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who was replaced by Oleksandr Syrskii earlier this year.