He arrived at our meeting in Kyiv relaxed and without a tie, a hallmark of his new life after two and a half years spent negotiating night and day among diplomats and security officers. From the moment Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Dmytro Kuleba, 43, spent his time traveling the globe, from Washington to Berlin, Paris to London, demanding arms for his country, and from Asia to Africa in an attempt to rally countries brooded over by Moscow.

He was one of the faces of Ukraine at war – a popular minister and one of the best-known personalities abroad after President Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked him for his services when he resigned his post in September 2024 ahead of a cabinet reshuffle and rumors he would be dismissed.

"Don't procrastinate," said Kuleba on Wednesday, January 8. Loyal, he did not comment on his sidelining. Nor did he tell anyone that he had turned down Zelensky's offer to become Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, as Le Monde learned. One offer he did accept though was from Luis Vassy, the new director of Sciences Po Paris, who called him in September 2024 to offer him the chance to teach a course on "diplomacy in times of war" at the prestigious Parisian school. It was a relationship forged when Vassy was chief of staff of former French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné.

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