“I am grateful to Olha for her work on European and Euro-Atlantic integration. It has been a successful effort. Much has been achieved,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “Olha also took part in negotiations with the United States on a new format for our economic cooperation and the creation of the Ukraine-U.S. Reconstruction Investment Fund.”
As deputy prime minister, Stefanishyna coordinated Ukraine’s EU accession talks and worked closely with NATO. Since last September, she also held a second cabinet role as justice minister.
However, Stefanishyna — under corruption indictment since 2019 — recently faced renewed scrutiny over her ex-husband’s ties to a firm managing state assets and an undeclared luxury apartment. Prosecutors opened a probe but have not charged her, and she denies wrongdoing.
Zelenskyy previously announced outgoing Defense Minister Rustem Umerov as a pick for U.S. ambassador last week. It is unclear why the president changed his mind since then. Opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak claimed that Umerov’s candidacy was not approved by Washington.
Ukraine has been looking to replace its current ambassador, Oksana Markarova, after she angered U.S. President Donald Trump’s team last September by organizing Zelenskyy’s visit to a weapons factory with Democratic politicians in the battleground state of Pennsylvania during the presidential election campaign.