Amid the ongoing war with Russia, which has lasted for over three years, the President of Ukraine is making changes to his government.
Yulia Svyrydenko, the current First Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Minister, is expected to be nominated as the next prime minister. Current Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is slated to become the next defense minister.
Zelenskyy announced his nomination of Svyrydenko for prime minister in a post on X, stating that they discussed the country’s goals.
“We also discussed specific steps to enhance support programs for Ukrainians and increase domestic weapons production. To achieve this, we are initiating a reorganization of the executive branch in Ukraine. I have proposed that Yuliia Svyrydenko lead the government of Ukraine and significantly revamp its operations. I anticipate the presentation of the new government’s action plan soon,” Zelenskyy stated on Monday.
Svyrydenko expressed her gratitude to Zelenskyy in her own post on X and outlined the “priority tasks” defined by the president, including boosting domestic weapons production and expanding government support programs.
“These objectives can be realized through significant deregulation, the removal of bureaucratic hurdles, the reduction of non-essential state spending and overlapping functions within state institutions, the protection of entrepreneurship, and the complete allocation of state resources to Ukraine’s defense and post-conflict recovery,” Svyrydenko wrote.
In Ukraine, the president nominates the prime minister, but the Verkhovna Rada, the country’s parliament, must approve the appointment for it to be official.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy reported that he met with Svyrydenko and Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for Innovations, Development of Education, Science and Technologies, to discuss “key priorities” for the incoming government. These priorities include those he specified for Svyrydenko, as well as “fully contracting the required volumes of all types of drones” needed by Ukrainian forces.
The outgoing prime minister, Shmyhal, who has held the position since 2020, is expected to succeed current Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, whom Zelenskyy has reportedly suggested as the next ambassador to the U.S.
Reports indicate that Zelenskyy praised Shmyhal — the country’s longest-serving head of government since its independence in 1991 — for his “extensive experience.”
On Monday, President confirmed that the U.S. has agreed to sell arms to NATO, which will be “quickly distributed” to Ukraine. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated that Trump contacted him on Thursday to confirm his participation in the deal.