Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tendered his resignation yesterday, following reports of resignations earlier in the day. Two of Ukraine’s vice prime ministers, three ministers, the head of the State Property Fund and a top official in Zelenskyy’s Presidential Office have all quit within the last day or so, reported CNN. The parliament needs to approve the resignations for them to take effect. They have yet to vote on Kuleba’s exit, but have approved the resignations of the three other ministers and one of the vice premiers on Wednesday. They did not accept the resignations of two other officials who remain at their posts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated in a video statement, reported by Ukrinform last night that a major government reshuffle was in the works. “Autumn will be extremely important for Ukraine. And our state institutions must be set up so that Ukraine achieves all the results we need—all of us. To do this, we need to strengthen some areas in the government, and we have prepared personnel decisions. There will also be changes in the Office,” Zelenskyy said. He added that he was “counting on a slightly different weight for certain areas of our foreign and domestic policy.”
CNN speculated that Zelenskyy wants to have his new team in place for his trip to the U.S. later this month, where he is expected to attend the UN General Assembly and meet U.S. President Joe Biden.