The Verkhovna Rada supported the dismissal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba

The Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) supported the dismissal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba. 240 MPs voted for it.

The MP from the "Voice" faction Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported this.

According to Babelʼs sources in the leadership of the “Servant of the People” party, after his release, Kuleba was supposed to head the new joint mission of Ukraine under NATO-EU, but decided to take a break for the time being.

What is known about Kuleba

Kuleba headed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry since March 2020. He started his career in 2003 and until 2010 worked in the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in positions in the central apparatus and the Permanent Representation of Ukraine to international organizations in Vienna (OSCE issues). From 2010 to 2013, at the Secretariat of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, he took care of the image of Ukraine abroad, international organizations, and relations with the United States.

From January to June 2013, he was an adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine on humanitarian issues.

In 2013, Kuleba left the civil service and headed the UART Foundation for Cultural Diplomacy, which deals, in particular, with the popularization of Ukraine and Ukrainian culture abroad. However, after the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014, he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as ambassador on special assignments for strategic communications. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he introduced the concepts of digital diplomacy, strategic communications, cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy.

In 2016, Kuleba was appointed to the post of permanent representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe. From August 2019 to March 2020, he was the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.

What preceded

On September 4, 2024, it became known that he had written a resignation letter, the reasons are currently unknown.

Kulebaʼs resignation took place against the backdrop of mass dismissals of other ministers. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine agreed to the dismissal of the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleksandr Kamyshin, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets and the Minister of Justice Denys Malyuska.

There were not enough votes to dismiss Iryna Vereshchuk from the post of Deputy Prime Minister — Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, and Dmytro Kulebaʼs dismissal was not considered at the meeting.

The "Servant of the People" party held a faction meeting on the evening of September 4, at which a major personnel update of the government was discussed. In particular, they plan to appoint Kulebaʼs first deputy Andrii Sybiha.