Zelenskyy Appoints Rishi Sunak to Ukraine Economic Renewal Advisory Council

Rishi Sunak has taken an unpaid seat on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's International Advisory Council for the Economic Renewal of Ukraine, adding a reconstruction brief to a post-premiership portfolio that already includes paid advisory work for Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and AI developer Anthropic.

Documents released February 27 by the UK's independent adviser on ministerial standards confirmed the appointment. Sunak, who retains his seat in Parliament as MP for Richmond and Northallerton, attended the council's inaugural meeting the same day alongside a room that included World Bank President Ajay Banga, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Odile Renaud-Basso, and private-sector representatives from BlackRock, Citigroup, Siemens, ArcelorMittal, and McKinsey.

The council is designed to provide a panel of experts advising both Zelenskyy and his economic adviser, former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who was appointed to that role on January 5, 2026. Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's former ambassador to Washington, was appointed adviser on reconstruction and investment in November 2025, rounding out the senior advisory tier.

Sunak said he had been "honoured" to support Ukraine during his time as prime minister and praised Zelenskyy for the Ukrainian people demonstrating "such bravery, such strength, such ingenuity in their resistance in this war." His statement outlined both a rationale and an ambition: "The West needs a strong Ukraine, and a strong Ukraine needs a strong economy. So I am delighted to join the international group advising President Zelensky on economic reconstruction. I am confident that Ukraine, with its human capital, its natural resources, and its culture of innovation, can become one of the most dynamic economies in Europe. We can help build a strong and secure Ukraine that will be a keystone of a safer and more prosperous Europe."

Zelenskyy, addressing council representatives, acknowledged the stakes of the moment directly. "Even during the war, after such a winter, our country lives," he said. "We are open to partnerships, joint projects and investments that will support our people and our security."

The scale of the financial challenge the council is expected to help navigate is considerable. The World Bank estimates Ukraine's total reconstruction and recovery cost at $588 billion. Separately, Kyiv and partners in Washington and Europe are reportedly developing a "prosperity plan" tied to peace negotiations that would aim to mobilize $800 billion in public and private investment over ten years.

The Kyiv Independent framed the string of appointments, including Freeland, Markarova, and now Sunak, as part of Zelenskyy's deliberate preparation for either an eventual postwar recovery or, if peace talks stall, an extended conflict. The U.S. has intensified pressure in recent months to reach a settlement, giving the council's formation a particular urgency.

For Sunak, the role raises questions that will be familiar to anyone tracking post-premiership advisory work in Westminster. He is simultaneously a sitting MP, a Goldman Sachs consultant, a Microsoft adviser, and now a reconstruction adviser to a foreign government, all without apparent conflict of interest rulings blocking any of it. The ministerial standards disclosure process caught the Ukraine appointment, as it is designed to do. Whether the overlap between his commercial clients and the private-sector firms now gathered around Zelenskyy's reconstruction table warrants closer scrutiny is a question the documents alone do not answer.