Zelensky aims to woo both public and Trump with fresh-faced Ukraine Cabinet

KYIV – Ukraine will get its new prime minister on July 17, as President Volodymyr Zelensky tries to wrestle wartime defence spending into shape and win over both US President Donald Trump and a war-weary public with fresh-faced leadership.

Ms Yulia Svyrydenko, 39,

the only candidate

for the post, is expected to take over a reshuffled Cabinet, tasked with scaling up a fledgling arms industry and breathing life into an economy kept afloat by Western lenders.

Mr Zelensky’s choice of a young economist well known in Washington reflects the importance of repairing relations with the Trump administration after his

disastrous White House visit

in February.

Ms Svyrydenko’s outgoing predecessor, Mr Denys Shmyhal, is, meanwhile, likely to shift to the job of defence minister, a sign of the importance Kyiv now places on building up the capacity of its defence industry as the best chance of fending off Russia.

But with Mr Zelensky still relying on a small handful of close allies to make his biggest Cabinet reshuffle of the war, the moves could disappoint Ukrainians who want to see a wider talent pool at the top.

Ms Svyrydenko, with a more prominent public profile than Mr Shmyhal, has already played a role in shoring up ties with the US and was

one of Kyiv’s main negotiators

in reaching a deal that gives Washington preferential access to swathes of Ukraine’s mineral wealth.

Her nomination sends a signal to Washington that Kyiv is prioritising the relationship, said political analyst Mykola Davydiuk.

“For us, it’s a partnership that’s not just about money but about values, about joint projects, and generally about our common movement forward together,” he said, summing up how he saw Mr Zelensky’s thinking.

Importance of defence

Mr Shmyhal, 49, is Ukraine’s longest-serving prime minister.

Moving him to the Defence Ministry, a demotion on paper, gives Mr Zelensky an experienced technocratic economist in a job that oversees the bulk of Ukraine’s state cash flow.

The 2025 budget allocates 2.23 trillion hryvnias – or US$53.2 billion (S$68.4 billion) – about 26 per cent of Ukraine’s gross domestic product – for defence spending.

The ministry has faced public criticism over poor organisation and procurement problems as Ukraine struggles to fend off a bigger and better-armed Russian military.

“This is a ministry that practically since the beginning of the war has suffered from a lack of systemic management,” said Mr Hlib Vyshlinsky, head of the Centre for Economic Strategy in Kyiv.

He described Mr Shmyhal’s potential appointment as “an extremely good step”.

Economically, Kyiv faces the tough challenge of finding money to finance its ballooning budget deficit as foreign aid is set to diminish but defence spending continues to grow.

Officials have said Ukraine would need about US$40 billion in international financing in 2026 and could face a shortfall of about US$19 billion.

Maintaining stability will only become more difficult as the war drags on, complicated by a lack of effective policymakers, said opposition lawmaker Andrii Osadchuk.

“Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult for Zelensky and his coalition to add new, bright people to ministerial positions,” said Mr Osadchuk of the Holos party, adding that it could lead to “stagnation” in the executive branch.

Political challenges

Earlier in July, Mr Shmyhal’s Cabinet came under fire from businesses and civil society for rejecting the candidacy of an economic security chief who had been unanimously backed by an internationally supervised committee.

Other opposition lawmakers have criticised what they describe as Mr Zelensky’s reliance on an ever-smaller band of close loyalists.

“Zelensky’s short bench of personnel has long since turned into a stool on which maybe five or six managers fit,” wrote lawmaker Iryna Herashchenko, a member of Zelensky rival Petro Poroshenko’s party, on July 16.

“The only innovation (in Ms Svyrydenko’s appointment) is that a female manager has been added.”

Elections are prohibited while the country is under martial law, a principle widely accepted within Ukraine given the difficulty of staging a vote while millions of people are displaced and cities are under bombardment and occupation.

But this also means it is difficult for a new crop of leaders to emerge.

While Mr Zelensky himself remains broadly popular, the Cabinet and other current or former senior officials have been ensnared in allegations of corruption and incompetence.

In June, the authorities charged a deputy prime minister with taking a US$345,000 kickback.

Ukraine’s government and Parliament suffer from low levels of public trust, said Mr Anton Grushetskyi, executive director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

However, he added that most Ukrainians, while wanting a widespread political renewal, are against wartime elections and accept that fending off Russia is the greater priority. REUTERS