As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky jetted into a Coalition of the Willing summit in Paris today, he left behind a major upheaval in his country’s domestic politics. On Sunday, a major government reshuffle was announced aimed at prioritising key foreign policy and security objectives.

The departure of prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko triggered the reshuffle, which was framed by Zelensky in terms of foreign policy necessity. “Each priority area of foreign policy will be assigned to a specific person with substantial experience,” he said, adding, “the most important of these areas include the United States and our agreements on licences to manufacture Patriot systems.” Other key areas mentioned were Ukraine’s proposed pan-European “Freya” antiballistic project, EU accession and relations with neighbouring countries, which Zelensky said “require a new foundation, especially Poland and Hungary”.

Reports that Svyrydenko is set to become Ukraine’s new ambassador to Washington illustrate how Zelensky’s overriding concern with maintaining key relationships is shaping domestic politics. Svyrydenko fits the bill for the role. As economy minister, she led negotiations on the critical minerals deal, which helped rescue relations with the Trump administration during the darkest days of MAGA antagonism towards Zelensky in early 2025.

Relief over Trump’s better-than-feared mood at the Nato summit in Ankara last week — particularly his promise that Ukraine would be granted the licence to manufacture Patriot interceptors — demonstrates how critical the US remains to Kyiv’s war hopes. Europe talks a good game, but Ukraine still measures foreign policy success based on relations with the United States.

Still, the “new foundation” which Zelensky claims is needed for relations with Poland and Hungary reflects growing anxiety about EU relations, too. Hungary’s change of government gives Kyiv cause for optimism. Yet issues around the Hungarian ethnic minority in the Transcarpathia region of western Ukraine, which dogged Zelensky’s relationship with Viktor Orbán, must still be navigated with new leader Péter Magyar. A joint visit to the region has provisionally been agreed by the two in Ankara.

Poland presents a very different and possibly more significant challenge. In late June, Zelensky named a military unit in honour of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, an ultranationalist force responsible for atrocities against Polish civilians during the Second World War. This caused enormous damage to Polish-Ukrainian relations and to Polish perceptions of Zelensky in particular.

Here, Zelensky has pushed himself into a corner in relations with arguably Ukraine’s most important European ally. Backing down would inflame fierce Ukrainian nationalism, awakening anti-Western and anti-Polish sentiments that have been dormant amid the struggle against Russia. Yet as senior voices in both Poland and Hungary urge the resolution of their national grievances as a pre-condition of Ukraine’s EU accession, these regional disputes risk derailing the EU goal of opening all remaining accession “clusters” with Kyiv by the end of the year.

As the “Coalition of the Willing” gathers, the changing face of the Russia-Ukraine war poses additional diplomatic challenges. Top of Zelensky’s list of priorities at the summit is his drive for allies to give a more concrete shape to the Freya missile defence project, touted as a cheaper, mass-produced version of the Patriot system. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s escalating drone warfare within Russia presents a potential new public relations issue. Footage of exploding Russian infrastructure and Russian claims of civilian casualties complicates the previous narrative of Ukraine as an innocent victim.

Amid this delicate period for Ukraine’s international relations, the government reshuffle strengthens Zelensky’s domestic position. After all, winning international support is the skill for which Zelensky is renowned — Trump didn’t call him the “greatest salesman on earth” for nothing. As long as Ukraine remains dependent on its allies to sustain its war effort, the President’s enduring popular appeal makes him — if no one else in his administration — irreplaceable.