The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (, ) is the ministry of the

Ukrainian government The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine (), is the highest body of state executive power in Ukraine. As the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, it was formed on 18 April 1991, by the Law ...

that oversees the foreign relations of Ukraine. The head of the ministry is the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

History

Originally, the ministry was established as the General Secretariat of Nationalities as part of the

General Secretariat of Ukraine The General Secretariat of Ukraine () was the autonomous Ukrainian executive government of the Russian Republic from June 28, 1917, to January 22, 1918. For most of its existence it was headed by Volodymyr Vynnychenko. The secretariat was cre ...

and was headed by the federalist Serhiy Yefremov. Due to the Soviet intervention, the office was reformed into a ministry on December 22, 1917. About the same time, another government was formed (the Soviet) that proclaimed the Ukrainian government to be counter-revolutionary. The Ukrainian Soviet government also reorganized its office on March 1, 1918. In 1923, the office was liquidated by the government of the Soviet Union and reinstated in 1944, twenty years later. The first Soviet representatives were not of much note until the appointment of the Bulgarian native

Christian Rakovsky Christian Georgiyevich Rakovsky ( – September 11, 1941), Bulgarian name Krastyo Georgiev Rakovski, born Krastyo Georgiev Stanchov, was a Bulgarian-born socialist Professional revolutionaries, revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and Soviet Un ...

in 1919. The office would remain in operation even after Ukraine's restoration of independence in 1991. On March 28, 2022, during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the ministry in a collaboration with One Philosophy launched the "Ukraine Street" campaign, calling for citizens of initially 34 countries in 53 cities to sign petitions of renaming their streets next to Russian embassies. It is a part of an attempt to "isolate Russia and de- Putinize the world", and to express soidarity with Ukraine. Streets in 20 cities of 17 countries have been renamed by its authorities during the campaign as of December 2022.

General overview

The ministry is located in Ukraine's capital

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

in the city's historic uppertown district, located in close proximity to the recently rebuilt St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery. The building of the ministry is also located on the Mykhailivska Square, named for the monastery and next to the park Volodymyrska Hill. The nomination of the Foreign Minister is done by the

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

, unlike most nominations of

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

which are done by the

Prime Minister of Ukraine The prime minister of Ukraine (, , ) is the head of government of Ukraine. The prime minister presides over the government of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which is the highest body of the executive branch of the government of Ukrain ...

. All minister nominations have to be approved by the

Ukrainian Parliament The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...

Office of National Commission of Ukraine for UNESCO

Ukraine has been a member of UNESCO since May 12, 1954. From December 1962 Ukraine had established its permanent representation in the organization currently served by the Ambassador of Ukraine to France. The National Commission of Ukraine for UNESCO was created as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Presidential decree #212/1996 on March 26, 1996. The Chair of the National Commission of Ukraine for UNESCO is Sergiy Kyslytsya. The permanent representative of Ukraine to UNESCO is the Ambassador to France Kostiantyn Tymoshenko. Ukraine has 14 academic departments cooperating with

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

as well as 63 schools associated with the organization.List of schools associated with UNESCO

List of ministers

Officials before 1924

;General Secretary of Nationalities (June 28 - December 22, 1917) * Serhiy Yefremov (Socialist-Federalist) (June 28 - July 17, 1917) * Oleksandr Shulhin (Socialist-Federalist) (July 17 - December 22, 1917) ;People's Secretary of Nationalities (December 14, 1917 - March 1, 1918) * Sergei Bakinsky (

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

) (December 14, 1917 - March 1, 1918) ;Ministry of Foreign Affairs (December 22, 1917 - May 1920) * Oleksandr Shulhin (Socialist-Federalist) (December 22, 1917 - January 24, 1918) * Vsevolod Holubovych (Socialist-Revolutionary) (January 24 - March 3, 1918) * Mykola Liubynsky (Socialist-Revolutionary) (March 3 - April 28, 1918) * Mykola Vasylenko (Association of Ukrainian Progressionists) (April 30 - May 20, 1918) * Dmytro Doroshenko (Socialist-Federalist) (May 20 - November 14, 1918) * Georgiy Afanasyev (November 14 - December 14, 1918) * Volodymyr Chekhivsky ( Ukrainian Menshevik) (December 26, 1918 - February 11, 1919) * Kostiantyn Matsiyevych (February 13 - March 1919) * Volodymyr Temnytsky (

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

) (April - August 1919) * Andriy Livytskyi ( Ukrainian Menshevik) (August 1919 - May 1920) ;People's Secretaries of Foreign Affairs (March 1, 1918 - July 1923) *

Volodymyr Zatonsky Volodymyr Petrovych Zatonsky (; July 27, 1888 – July 29, 1938) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician, academic, Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Communist Party activist, full member of the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences (from 1929) ...

(

) (March 1–4, 1918) *

Mykola Skrypnyk Mykola Oleksiiovych Skrypnyk (; – 7 July 1933), was a Ukrainian Bolshevik revolutionary and Communist leader who was a proponent of the Ukrainian Republic's independence, and later led the cultural Ukrainization effort in Soviet Ukraine. Whe ...

(

) (March 8 - April 18, 1918) *

(

) (January - July 1919) *

(

) (March 1920 - July 1923) ;State Secretaries of Foreign Affairs of Western Ukraine (November 1918 - February 1923) * Vasyl Paneiko (National Democrat) (November 1918 - January 1919) * Lonhyn Tsehelsky (National Democrat) (January - February 1919) * Mykhailo Lozynsky (March - April 1919) *

Stepan Vytvytskyi Stepan Porfyrovych Vytvytskyi (; 13 March 1884 – 9 October 1965), also known as Dr. Stepan Wytwycky, was a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician, diplomat, and journalist. He was the President of Ukraine, President of the Ukrainian People's Republic, U ...

(National Democrat) (April 1919 - February 1920) *

Kost Levytsky Kost Antonovych Levytsky (; 18 November 1859 – 12 November 1941) was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician. He was a leader of the Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance in the Second Polish Republic and the head of the Council of Seniors of a ...

(National Democrat) (1920 - February 1923)

Officials after World War II

;People's Commissars of Foreign Affairs *

Oleksandr Korniychuk Oleksandr Yevdokymovych Korniychuk (; ; – 14 May 1972) was a Soviet and Ukrainian playwright, literary critic and state official. His plays include ''The Death of the Squadron'' (1933), ''Platon Krechet'' (1934), ''Bohdan Khmelnytsky'' (1938), ...

(February - July 1944) * Dmitry Manuilsky (July 1944 - March 15, 1946) ;Ministers of Foreign Affairs * Dmitry Manuilsky (March 15, 1946 - 1952) * Anatoliy Baranovsky (June 10, 1952 - June 17, 1953) ** Luka Palamarchuk (June 17, 1953 - May 11, 1954) * Luka Palamarchuk (May 11, 1954 - August 13, 1965) * Dmytro Bilokolos (March 16, 1966 - June 11, 1970) * Georgiy Shevel (August 10, 1970 - November 18, 1980) * Volodymyr Martynenko (November 18, 1980 - December 28, 1984) * Volodymyr Kravets (December 28, 1984 - July 27, 1990) * Anatoliy Zlenko (July 27, 1990 - August 24, 1991) ;Ministers of Foreign Affairs (post-Soviet) Secretary Kerry Chats With Ukrainian Foreign Minister Deshchytsia Before Meeting With Russians

Secretary Kerry Chats With Ukrainian Foreign Minister Deshchytsia Before Meeting With Russians

* Anatoliy Zlenko (August 24, 1991 - August 25, 1994) ** Hennadiy Udovenko (August 25, 1994 - September 16, 1994) * Hennadiy Udovenko (September 16, 1994 - April 17, 1998) * Borys Tarasiuk (April 17, 1998 - September 29, 2000) * Anatoliy Zlenko (October 2, 2000 - September 2, 2003) * Kostyantyn Gryshchenko (September 2, 2003 - February 3, 2005) * Borys Tarasiuk (February 4, 2005 - December 1, 2006) ** Borys Tarasiuk (December 5, 2006 - January 30, 2007) ** Volodymyr Ohryzko (January 31, 2007 - March 21, 2007) * Arseniy Yatseniuk (March 21, 2007 - December 18, 2007) * Volodymyr Ohryzko (December 18, 2007 - March 3, 2009) *

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

(October 9, 2009 - March 11, 2010) * Kostyantyn Gryshchenko (March 11, 2010 - December 24, 2012) * Leonid Kozhara (December 24, 2012 - February 23, 2014)Yanukovych appoints new Cabinet of Ministers

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is Ukraine’s first and most prominent English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1995 in Kyiv by American businessman Jed Sunden. In 2018, the publication was acquired by prominent Ukrainian businessman Adnan Kivan, foun ...

(24 December 2012) ** Andrii Deshchytsia (February 27, 2014 - June 19, 2014) * Pavlo Klimkin (June 19, 2014 - 29 August 2019) * Vadym Prystaiko (29 August 2019 - 4 March 2020) * Dmytro Kuleba (4 March 2020 - 5 September 2024) *

Andrii Sybiha Andrii Ivanovych Sybiha (Андрій Іванович Сибіга; born 1 February 1975) is a Ukrainian statesman, diplomat, and jurist who became the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and is currently the Minister of Forei ...

(5 September - )

MFA of Ukraine spokespersons

* Ihor Dolhov (2001—2002) * Markiyan Lubkivsky (2003—2005) * Vasyl Filipchuk (2005—2006) * Andrii Deshchytsia (2006—2008) * Vasyl Kyrylych (2008—2009) * Oleksandr Dykusarov (2010-2013) * Yevhen Perebyinis (2013-2015) * Mariana Betsa (2015—2018) * Kateryna Zelenko (2018—2020) * Oleh Nikolenko (2020-)

References

External links

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on YouTube

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on Facebook

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on VK

MFA of Ukraine
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Twitter account {{authority control

Foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

Foreign relations of Ukraine

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...