Ukraine's foreign minister resigns on day of new president's inauguration

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin. Photo: Internet

On May 17, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin announced that he had written a letter of resignation and would send it to the Ukrainian Parliament on May 20 - the time of the inauguration of President-elect Volodymir Zelensky.

In a statement on Facebook, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry affirmed the legitimate right of President-elect Zelensky to have his own team of foreign policy makers and to build his own foreign policy strategy.

Mr. Klimkin added that he will participate in the Ukrainian parliamentary elections this year.

According to the Ukrainian Constitution, a new president is only allowed to nominate two ministers in the government: the foreign minister and the defense minister. However, these two nominations need to be approved by the parliament. The ruling coalition in the parliament selects the prime minister.

Previously, on May 16, the Ukrainian Parliament voted to hold the inauguration ceremony for President-elect Zelensky on May 20.

In the Ukrainian presidential election on April 21, Mr. Zelensky won overwhelmingly against outgoing President Petro Poroshenko with 73% of the vote.

He affirmed that the most important thing now is to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, pledging to "restart" the peace negotiation process with the parties according to the Minsk agreement.

President-elect Zelensky also announced that the upcoming government in Ukraine will adhere to the country's foreign policy roadmap in joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU)./.