Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine) explained

Post:Minister of Foreign Affairs
Body:Ukraine
Native Name:Міністр закордонних справ України
Insignia:Logo of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine with abbreviation in English.svg
Insigniasize:200px
Termlength:No fixed term
Incumbent:Dmytro Kuleba
Incumbentsince:4 March 2020
Appointer:President of Ukraine
Formation:24 August 1991
Succession:First deputy minister
Inaugural:Anatoliy Zlenko

The minister of foreign affairs (Ukrainian: Міністр закордонних справ) is the foreign minister of Ukraine and head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is in charge of the diplomatic corps and realization of the foreign policy of Ukraine. The minister of foreign affairs is appointed by the president.

Since Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the nation has had 14 foreign ministers (not including acting ones). During the Ukrainian chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2013, the Ukrainian foreign minister at that time (Leonid Kozhara) served as Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE.

The current foreign minister is Dmytro Kuleba, who took office on 4 March 2020.[1]

List of ministers of foreign affairs

Soviet Ukraine

No.PortraitNameTook officeLeft officeFirst Secretary
unknown17 June 195311 May 1954Alexei Kirichenko
Luka Palamarchuk11 May 195413 August 1965Alexei Kirichenko
Nikolai Podgorny
Petro Shelest
Anatoliy Kysil13 August 196516 March 1966Petro Shelest
Dmytro Bilokolos16 March 196611 June 1970Petro Shelest
unknown11 June 19705 August 1970
Georgiy Shevel5 August 197018 November 1980Petro Shelest
Volodymyr Shcherbytsky
Volodymyr Martynenko18 November 198028 December 1984Volodymyr Shcherbytsky
Volodymyr Kravets29 December 198427 July 1990Volodymyr Shcherbytsky
Volodymyr Ivashko
Stanislav Hurenko
Anatoliy Zlenko27 July 199024 August 1991Stanislav Hurenko

Ministers after independence

No.PortraitNameTook officeLeft officePresident(s)
Anatoliy Zlenko24 August 199125 August 1994Leonid Kravchuk
25 August 199416 September 1994Leonid Kuchma
16 September 199417 April 1998
Borys Tarasiuk17 April 199829 September 2000
Oleksandr Chalyi29 September 20002 October 2000
Anatoliy Zlenko2 October 20002 September 2003
Kostyantyn Gryshchenko2 September 20033 February 2005
Borys Tarasiuk4 February 20051 December 2006Viktor Yushchenko
Anton Buteyko1 December 20065 December 2006
Borys Tarasiuk5 December 200630 January 2007
Volodymyr Ohryzko31 January 200721 March 2007
Arseniy Yatseniuk21 March 200718 December 2007
Volodymyr Ohryzko18 December 20073 March 2009
Volodymyr Khandohiy3 March 20099 October 2009
Petro Poroshenko9 October 200911 March 2010
Kostyantyn Gryshchenko11 March 201024 December 2012Viktor Yanukovych
Leonid Kozhara24 December 201223 February 2014
Andrii Deshchytsia27 February 2014 19 June 2014Oleksandr Turchynov
Pavlo Klimkin19 June 201429 August 2019Petro Poroshenko
Vadym Prystaiko29 August 20194 March 2020Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Dmytro Kuleba4 March 2020incumbent

Notes and References

  1. News: Dmytro Kuleba Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine . 16 April 2023 . Warsaw Security Forum . Casimir Pulaski Foundation.