Reshuffle at the top: Ukrainian diplomacy braces for new leadership

A series of resignations in the Ukrainian government. The head of diplomacy will no longer be Dmytro Kuleba, who was recently in the spotlight in Poland for his controversial remarks on the Volhynia massacre. "It was a disagreement, but I don't think criticism of Poland was a sufficient factor for his departure," comments Jerzy Marek Nowakowski, former ambassador to Latvia and Armenia.

Dmytro Kuleba submitted his resignation to the Ukrainian parliament. His resignation is expected to be considered at one of the upcoming sessions, announced Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk. The 43-year-old politician became the head of Ukrainian diplomacy in 2020, as the youngest foreign minister in the country's history.

This is another significant change in the Kyiv government. Vice Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, responsible for integration with the European Union, as well as the ministers of justice, the environment, and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk, are also leaving their positions. Recently, Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister for Strategic Industries, also resigned.

"Signals about changes have been coming for some time and were likely dictated by the wishes of President Zelensky's administration. It fits into a larger pattern because there are more resignations, so the changes are systematic," comments former Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Piekło for WP.

The expert points to decisions aimed at taking more initiative by President Zelensky's entourage. Recently, a deputy from Zelensky's party, David Arakhamia, announced a "major government reset." In his opinion, more than half of the Ukrainian government may be replaced.

"Kuleba's resignation is forced by the entire process of changes in the state's leadership. The Ukrainian authorities have decided to pursue a 'more assertive' policy towards allies, while Kuleba was a politician of dialogue. I have the impression that he resigned because he did not agree with this political model of his government," says Jerzy Marek Nowakowski, former ambassador to Latvia and Armenia, to WP.

However, he notes that the resignation of the Foreign Minister might have come as a surprise to President Zelensky and his entourage. Nowakowski emphasises that Kuleba 'looked like a very useful partner in the government', so his resignation 'did not please even his ideological opponents.'

"It appears that Ukraine, within the political class, is undergoing - difficult to define - changes. The question remains whether these will be changes that will allow entering into some negotiation process with Russia or a path to a hard conflict," ponders Jerzy Marek Nowakowski.

The achievements of Dmytro Kuleba are also positively assessed by former Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Piekło. "He was a good minister. Known and appreciated by Western partners. He was in office for a very long time and had the right to feel tired," he believes.

"Probably the new head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be Andrii Sybiga, his current first deputy, who once worked in Poland and speaks Polish quite well. He was also a deputy head of the President's Office. He is a professional diplomat with good knowledge of Poland," adds Piekło.

The changes at the top of Ukrainian diplomacy were commented on in an interview with WP journalist Tomasz Molga by Karolina Romanowska, chairperson of the "Polish-Ukrainian Reconciliation" Association. "For Poland, it will not be a significant change besides the fact that Kuleba currently has a bad reputation, so Sybiga will have a 'better start'," she believes.

She points out the good relations between him and President Zelensky's entourage. "But can we expect any changes related to the policy, especially historical, towards Poland? The Polish government has shown that it will not allow history to be swept under the rug, and Sybiga will have to deal with this," assesses Romanowska.

The mentioned "bad reputation" is the aftermath of the recent statement of the outgoing head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs during Campus Poland of the Future. There, one of the participants asked a question about the exhumation of the victims of the Volhynia massacre, emphasising that Poland is providing significant assistance to Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia for over two years.

"Let's leave history to historians and build the future together. If we started digging into history, the quality of the conversation would be completely different. We could remind each other of the bad things that Poles did to Ukrainians and Ukrainians did to Poles," Kuleba replied.

Recently, the matter was commented on by the head of Polish diplomacy on TVP Info. "Ukraine, of course, also has some demands towards us. But Poland will decide on closing subsequent chapters of Ukraine's negotiations with the European Union, so it is better for Ukraine to settle this matter as soon as possible - in the spirit of gratitude to Poland for what we are doing for it today, said Radosław Sikorski.

The Foreign Minister was responding to a question about the exhumation of the victims of the Volhynia massacre. He referred to his recent statement during Campus Poland of the Future in Olsztyn and talks with the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The resignation of the Ukrainian politician comes a week after the statement during Campus Poland of the Future. Can these matters be linked? Our interlocutors have no doubts.

"Of course, there were suggestions that this resignation was a reaction to the statement during Campus Poland, but I wouldn't go that far, I wouldn't connect this directly with that unfortunate statement," believes Jan Piekło, former Polish Ambassador to Ukraine.

"It was a disagreement that opponents gladly exploited, but I don't think criticism of Poland was a sufficient factor influencing his departure," says Jerzy Marek Nowakowski.