Zelensky may replace Prystaiko as foreign minister, report says

The Zelensky administration is considering dismissing several ministers, the pravda.com.ua news site reported on Feb. 6. Among them are Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko, who offers a strange situation, said the news site’s anonymous source in the President’s Office. Prystaiko “is a good diplomat, but hasn’t demonstrated himself as a minister,” the source said, adding that he has ruined his relations with almost everyone in the president’s inner circle. Also failing to fulfill his role is Defense Minister Andriy Zahorodniuk, the news site said.

There is no basis for talks on his possible dismissal, Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said on Feb. 6 in response to the report. “From the very start, my agreement with President Zelensky is that we are working for as long as I can be helpful,” he told a press conference, as reported by pravda.com.ua. “I believe talks about someone wanting to change something somewhere currently don’t have any basis. At least, the president and I haven’t discussed this.”

Presidential Aide Andriy Yermak has been actively involved in the personnel talks, while his rival with whom he has clashed, President Office Head Andriy Bohdan, has removed himself from the process, the news report said. Yermak is lobbying for his ally, Parliamentary Social Policy Committee Head Halyna Tretiakova, to become the new social policy minister. PM Oleksiy Honcharuk and Presidential First Aide Serhiy Shefir have also been active in the hiring process, which began on Feb. 1.

Zenon Zawada: For such a damning comment to be made about Prystaiko indicates that he’s on thin ice. Recently, the Russians have been critical of Prystaiko for proposing alternatives to fulfilling the Minsk Accords, including even freezing the armed conflict in Donbas. It was even suggested that he has made such proposals in defiance of the positions shared by President Zelensky and Yermak, who is handling the negotiations to resolve the war in Donbas.

So this development indicates there may be some truth to this suspicion, as Prystaiko represents the wing in the president’s team most opposed to concessions (while Yermak is more open to them). At the same time, it’s worth considering that Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry diplomatic corps is notoriously pro-Western and stands firmly against conceding to Russia.