The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has signed a decree dismissing Olga Stefanishyna from her post as Ukraine’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States.
The relevant decree, No. 696/2026, has been published on the President’s website.
In a Facebook post, Stefanishyna stated that she had decided to step down from her post as Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States of America due to personal circumstances.
“This is my own decision, dictated by personal circumstances, which I have spoken about previously,” she noted.
According to Stefanishyna, representing Ukraine in Washington during a full-scale war had been the greatest honour of her life.
At the same time, the diplomat emphasised that the main tasks for which she had come to Washington had been accomplished. In particular, she said, she had succeeded in increasing US arms supplies and maintaining support for Ukraine during a period of political upheaval in the US, enshrining this support in law, and shifting Ukraine’s role “from a country that is being helped to a country in which people invest and whose technologies are purchased”.
Stefanyishyna also stated that she would comment separately and publicly on issues that have recently been raised in the media, and assured that she would continue to work for the benefit of Ukraine “wherever she can be of use”.
Olga Stefanishyna was born on 29 October 1985 in Odesa. In 2008, she graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in international law and as an English translator; and in 2016 she obtained a specialist’s degree in ‘Finance and Credit’ from Odesa National Economic University.
From 2006 to 2007, she worked in private legal practice. From 2007, she worked at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, where she held posts in departments responsible for European integration and international law. From 2017 to 2019, she headed the Office for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration within the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
In June 2020, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Stefanishyna as Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine and also appointed her to the National Security and Defence Council.
In 2021, Stefanishyna was appointed to the Political Council of the Servant of the People party.
In 2024, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Stefanishyna as Minister of Justice of Ukraine following the dismissal of Denys Malyuska. She retained her position as Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
In July 2025, Stefanishyna lost her posts as Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister following the resignation of Denys Shmyhal’s government. Following this, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed her as the President of Ukraine’s Plenipotentiary for the Development of Cooperation with the US, and in August 2025, as Ambassador Extraordinary and
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the US.
On 23 July 2026, Zelenskyy announced that he had offered Yulia Sviridenko the post of US Ambassador to Ukraine.