Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has stepped down as President Volodymyr Zelensky announces government reshuffling to prepare for winter.
Zelensky announced Svyrydenko’s resignation on Sunday in a post on Telegram, saying that Ukraine was “changing its political strategy.”
He also said he had offered Svyrydenko the opportunity to lead “a new, important area” in Ukraine’s relations with a key international partner.
“Each priority area of foreign policy will be assigned to a specific person with substantial experience who is capable of implementing what we agree on at the leaders’ level and what the Ukrainian people expect,” Zelensky said, describing the impending reshuffle.
The Ukrainian leader also said there would be changes among the top ranks of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies.
Zelensky listed the tasks that Ukraine’s new cabinet needed to undertake in a post on X, including making progress towards joining the European Union, setting up a production line for manufacturing US-licensed Patriot missiles, and making preparations for winter, following repeated Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid each year.
He said a new cabinet is required to be able to carry out the planned tasks. “We determined that these changes require a renewal of the Cabinet of Ministers.”
In the meantime, Svyrydenko is expected to reportedly take the post of Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States.
Svyrydenko announced in a posting on Facebook that she had already discussed the “next steps” with Zelensky, and remained “ready to serve” the country in her next position.
The 40-year-old economist, who has become a close confidante of Zelensky, worked as Ukraine’s economy minister till last July, when she was chosen as Prime Minister after playing a lead role in securing the controversial mineral agreement between Kiev and Washington, which was pursued by US President Donald Trump.
First Deputy Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal will temporarily fill in for his former boss, working as the acting Ukrainian premier, pending approval of the new cabinet of the new prime minister. However, Naftogaz CEO Sergey Koretsky is seen by Ukrainian media as the most likely candidate for the post of the new prime minister of Ukraine.
