Zelenskyy appoints Olha Stefanishyna presidential envoy for developing cooperation with US

ISTANBUL

Ukraine’s president said Thursday that he appointed Olha Stefanishyna presidential envoy for developing cooperation with the US amid a large Cabinet reshuffle in the war-torn country.

“I have signed a decree appointing Olha Stefanishyna as the Special Representative of the President of Ukraine for the Development of Cooperation with the United States of America,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X after a meeting with Stefanishyna.

Zelenskyy said that, in this capacity, Stefanishyna will work to maintain the momentum in Ukrainian-American relations as “necessary procedures” continue to approve her as Kyiv’s new ambassador to Washington.

He also expressed his gratitude to Stefanishyna for her work as deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, a post she took in 2020. She also served as justice minister since last September.

“Olha also took part in negotiations with the United States on a new format for our economic cooperation and the creation of the Ukraine-U.S. Reconstruction Investment Fund. We will continue to work with the United States on this basis — adding mutually beneficial economic substance to our political and diplomatic interaction,” Zelenskyy went on to say.

Stefanishyna said on X following her appointment: “Together, we have achieved what once seemed like a distant dream: Ukraine became (an EU) candidate country, launched accession negotiations, and institutionalized support for an irreversible path to NATO membership. We also defined a strategic framework for a new era of transformations.”

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump discussed replacing Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the US, during a phone call earlier this month.

Citing a person familiar with the matter, the report named Stefanishyna as among those listed as potential candidates to replace Markarova.

Stefanishyna's appointment followed Ukraine's parliament earlier Thursday approving Yulia Svyrydenko as the country's new premier in the country's largest Cabinet reshuffle since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022.