NEWSFLASH: Zelenskyy shakes up cabinet, ministers resign

Some of the country's most senior ministers, including top diplomat Dmytro Kuleba, have resigned as part of a shakeup that Zelenskyy said would “give new strength” to the war effort.

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In a major cabinet shakeup, President Zelenskyy is signaling that new personnel are needed for the war to come to a conclusion.

“Autumn will be extremely important for Ukraine. Our state institutions must be prepared to achieve all the necessary results,” he said last evening, foreshadowing today’s resignations. “We have prepared personnel decisions. And there will also be changes in the Office of the President. I am also anticipating a reevaluation of priorities in certain areas of our foreign and domestic policy.”

Screenshot from Zelenskyy’s address to Ukrainians on September 3, 2024

About half of the cabinet will be replaced, said David Arakhamia, who heads Zelenskyy’s party in the Ukrainian legislature. The resignations will occur today, and the replacements will be named tomorrow.

Zelenskyy is making drastic changes ahead of an expected plan for Ukrainian victory that he will propose to the United States later this month. While negotiations for an end to the war are not imminent, both Ukrainian and Russian government officials have spent more time recently discussing the prospect of negotiations. 

After more than two and half years of war, Zelenskyy is putting together a team he believes can take the country across the finish line. Those who have resigned in recent hours are well-known figures in the West, including… 

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