(Bloomberg) -- Ukraine’s new foreign minister has cultivated deep contacts in NATO states during postings to Ankara and Warsaw, conducting his first phone call as top diplomat in fluent Polish.
But his most important qualification may be proximity to Ukraine’s wartime power center. Andrii Sybiha, who succeeded Dmytro Kuleba in a sweeping cabinet overhaul on Thursday, worked in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office under the powerful chief-of-staff, Andriy Yermak, during the first two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
While Kuleba was a familiar face in European capitals, tending to Ukraine’s ambitions to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union, Yermak took on much of the diplomatic heavy lifting. Zelenskiy’s most trusted aide has overseen negotiations for security guarantees, maintained the crucial relationship with Washington and overtures to the so-called Global South.
The increasing concentration of power in the presidential office under Yermak has raised concerns among some allies, who have criticized what they say is a lack of transparency, including abrupt personnel changes across the government, Bloomberg reported last month. In interview, Zelenskiy dismissed those complaints, while Yermak insisted he was mainly a coordinator.
And while Zelenskiy had signaled that a government overhaul was coming, last week’s shakeup came with little explanation and left Western allies guessing. It followed a pattern of Zelenskiy elevating those closest to his inner circle, including Sybiha, a well regarded senior diplomat who has managed a range of portfolios.
“It’s not the style of this president to take other people on board,” said Yuriy Yakymenko, president at the Razumkov Centre think tank in Kyiv. “He thinks that his decisions are the best, there is no place for discussions — so there is certain conservatism.”
Sybiha, 49, proved his capability under Yermak. He worked his contacts in Ankara while in the presidential office to help negotiate a deal to lift a Black Sea blockade to restore crucial grain exports. Sybiha was involved in the grain deal from its inception, according to an official familiar with the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity.
‘Weapons, weapons, weapons’
The cabinet reorganization takes place as Russian forces make grinding gains in the eastern Donetsk region. Missile and drone strikes are also scaling up including an attack that killed more than 50 people in the central city of Poltava last week. In a statement on Facebook laying out his priorities, Sybiha said foreign policy will be determined by the “realities of war.”
“Task number one for Ukrainian diplomacy — from ambassador to attaché — is ensuring Ukraine’s defense capability,” Sybiha wrote. “Weapons, weapons, weapons.”
That objective, reinforced by Zelenskiy during a visit to Germany to meet allied defense ministers on Friday, is followed by Kyiv’s ambitions for NATO and EU accession and its peace blueprint, which has entailed an effort to win over nations such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa.
The latter, a project championed especially by Yermak, has proven a challenge. A meticulously planned summit in Switzerland in June drew more than 100 countries and delegations, but fell short when several delegations from the Global South declined to sign on to the final communique, admonishing that Russia must be involved in the process.
Sybiha’s ties with Turkey, which this month made formal its bid to join the BRICS group of emerging-market nations, will be an asset in forging ahead with the blueprint. The diplomat has climbed the ranks of Ukraine’s foreign service since graduating from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv in 1997. After stints within the ministry in Kyiv as well as the embassy in Poland, he became ambassador to Turkey in 2016.
‘An Impression’
Former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that Sybiha was esteemed within the administration for his formidable knowledge, especially regarding relations with Turkey.
Reznikov was replaced a year ago after mounting allegations of graft in military procurement by his subordinates, which he denies. He said that — in contrast with some Ukrainian envoys — Sybiha was a “classic” diplomat.
President Joe Biden took notice of Sybiha during the US leader’s visit to Kyiv in February 2023, Reznikov said. He stood out enough for Biden to remember him at the NATO summit in Lithuania later that year, the ex-defense chief said.
“He left an impression on him,” Reznikov said.
The new foreign minister has also had a hand in the relationship with Poland, one of NATO’s staunchest backers — but one that has proven complex, particularly after Warsaw’s decision to impose restrictions on grain imports erupted into an ugly political fight during the United Nations General Assembly meeting last year.
Kuleba, in one of his last acts of foreign minister, angered officials in Warsaw with remarks on the 1943 massacres of Poles in the Ukrainian region of Volhynia. His attempt to compare the killing of around 100,000 people with later mass deportations of Ukrainian minorities under Poland’s communist regime prompted Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski to call it “a mistake.”
Warsaw views the appointment positively, with Sybiha regarded as calm, professional and open to discussion, an official familiar with the diplomat’s work said. Sybiha began to smooth things over on Friday, his first full day on the job. In a phone call with Sikorski he thanked for his country’s support.
“In a sign of respect, we held the conversation in Polish,” Sikorski said on social platform X.
--With assistance from Olesia Safronova.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
