President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered Ihor Klymenko the position of Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council. The relevant appointment decree is already being prepared.
The head of state announced this after meeting with Klymenko.
Zelenskyy thanked him for his work within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and said Klymenko would continue working to protect the state and the Ukrainian people.
“There were many difficult challenges, and the response was always effective,” the president said.
According to Zelenskyy, the main task of the new NSDC secretary should be ensuring the most effective possible coordination among all components of the security and defence sector, as well as daily oversight of the implementation of adopted decisions.
The president stressed that every decision of the NSDC and the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief must be implemented in full and within the established timeframe.
The government, the Defence and Security Forces, and other state institutions must work in a coordinated manner to achieve the goals set by the state. Zelenskyy named the coordination of defence production as a separate priority.
Klymenko was previously announced as a candidate for defence minister
Before the formation of the new government, Ihor Klymenko was named as one of the leading candidates for the post of defence minister, replacing Mykhailo Fedorov.
On 15 July, several lawmakers from the Servant of the People party said after a meeting with the president that Zelenskyy planned to nominate Klymenko to head the Defence Ministry. Ukrainian and international media also reported this.
The following day, Zelenskyy confirmed that Klymenko was being considered as one of the candidates for defence minister, but stressed that no final decision had been made at that time.
The president later announced that former head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s Alpha Special Operations Centre, Yevhenii Khmara, would serve as acting defence minister. Klymenko was instead offered the post of NSDC secretary.
Ihor Klymenko had headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs since February 2023. Before becoming minister, he served as chief of the National Police of Ukraine.
