President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced ambassadors to a number of countries, including Belgium, Spain, Canada, and Japan, as well as representatives of Ukraine in international organizations such as ICAO, UNEP, WTO, and IRENA.
Points of attention
- President Zelenskyy has replaced ambassadors to various countries and international organizations, appointing 16 new envoys to strengthen diplomatic relations.
- A series of decrees including No. 504/2025 to No. 517/2025 have led to the dismissal of Ukrainian ambassadors to several countries, while new appointments have been made through decrees No. 518/2025 to No. 587/2025.
Zelenskyy appointed 16 new ambassadors to Ukraine
The relevant Decrees of the President of Ukraine No. 504/2025 — No. 537/2025 have been published on the website of the Head of State.
In accordance with decrees No. 504/2025 — No. 517/2025, Ukrainian ambassadors were dismissed to:
The Republic of South Africa,
Mexico,
Uzbekistan,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Canada,
Estonia,
Italy,
The Republic of Cyprus,
Spain,
Republic of Korea,
Sweden,
Kenya,
United Arab Emirates.
A separate decree No. 517/2025 dismissed the Special Representative of Ukraine for the Middle East and Africa.
Decrees No. 518/2025 — No. 587/2025 appointed new ones.
Oleksandr Voronin will become the Ambassador of Ukraine to Algeria, and Oleksandr Balanutsa will become the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Arab Emirates. He will also be the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Volodymyr Bachynskyi has been appointed as the Ambassador of Ukraine to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Volodymyr Boyechko to Estonia, Andriy Kasyanov to Angola, Yuriy Lutovinov to Japan, Yaroslav Melnyk to Belgium, Gennady Nadolenko to Malaysia, Serhiy Nizhynskyi to the Republic of Cyprus, Serhiy Pogoreltsev to Mexico, Andriy Plahotniuk to Canada, he will also become Ukraine's representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Olga Selykh has been appointed as Ukraine's ambassador to Oman, and Yulia Sokolovska has been appointed as Ukraine's ambassador to Spain, who will also become Ukraine's representative to the World Tourism Organization (WTO).
In Kuwait, the ambassador of Ukraine will be Maksym Subha, in the Republic of South Africa — Oleksandr Shcherba, in Kenya — Yuriy Tokar, who will also be the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
It is expected that today, in the format of a meeting with ambassadors, the key priorities of Ukrainian diplomacy for the next six months will be determined.
