Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 12 that Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will leave her post in the near future, explaining that the move is part of a change in the country's political strategy under which each priority foreign policy direction will be handled by a separate official with relevant experience.
Among the priorities, Zelensky listed cooperation with the United States — including on licenses to produce missiles for Patriot systems — and interaction with the European Union on defense matters and Ukraine's EU accession. Relations with neighboring countries, primarily Poland and Hungary, as well as with China and Middle Eastern states, were also singled out.
On domestic policy, the president said the government must strengthen work in frontline and border regions, increase arms supplies to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including drones, and prepare for winter.
Zelensky thanked Svyrydenko for "clear, stable and effective work" and proposed she lead "a new significant direction" with a key partner, without specifying which one. Verkhovna Rada deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak suggested the role could be Ukraine's ambassador to the United States.
Svyrydenko, in turn, thanked Zelensky for his trust and said she was proud to have led the government "during the most difficult period of modern Ukrainian history."
The prime minister's resignation automatically triggers the departure of the entire cabinet. A vote in the Verkhovna Rada is required to approve a new government.
Svyrydenko became prime minister in July 2025, replacing Denys Shmyhal, who had led the cabinet since March 2020 — the longest tenure in independent Ukraine's history. Shmyhal later served as defense minister and in January 2026 became deputy prime minister and energy minister. Ukrainian media have not ruled out that Shmyhal could return as prime minister.
The leading candidate for the post of new head of government, according to Zheleznyak, is Serhiy Koretsky, chairman of the board of Naftogaz and director of Ukrnafta. The publication Strana.ua wrote that Koretsky is considered a close associate of businessman and Zelensky friend Timur Mindich, who was previously served with a notice of suspicion in a money laundering case related to the construction of luxury cottages outside Kyiv.
This will be the fourth change of head of government under Zelensky. Previous prime ministers have included Volodymyr Groysman (appointed under Petro Poroshenko), Oleksiy Honcharuk, Denys Shmyhal, and Yulia Svyrydenko.