The article substantiates the role of public diplomacy in modern international relations. The necessity of establishing institutional frameworks for public diplomacy is argued, and the main features of institutionalization are highlighted. Characteristics that reflect the institutional nature of Ukrainian public diplomacy are proposed. The main laws, by-laws, strategies, and regulations that form the institutional component of Ukraine’s public diplomacy are analyzed. The article confirms that the Constitution of Ukraine defines the institutional component of foreign policy and diplomacy in general. The main principles of foreign policy (in the context of public diplomacy) are analyzed in accordance with the legislation. An analysis of the Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and Decrees of the President of Ukraine regulating activities in the field of public diplomacy is carried out. The role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in coordinating public diplomacy, its tasks, and changes in activities in response to challenges and the need to strengthen Ukraine’s image on the international stage are determined. The role of public diplomacy in strengthening information support and enhancing Ukraine’s international image is revealed. The prerequisites that led to the creation of the Public Diplomacy Department within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, which includes the Cultural Diplomacy Division, are identified. The main provisions of the Concept for Promoting Ukraine in the World and Advancing its Interests in the Global Information Space approved in 2016 are analyzed. The role of the Ukrainian Institute in the development of Ukraine’s public diplomacy is revealed. The role of Ukraine NOW in the institutionalization of Ukraine’s public diplomacy is confirmed. The role of Ukraine’s Public Diplomacy Strategy 2021¬–2025, which became the main initiative of public diplomacy and the Communication Strategy, is revealed. The main directions of public diplomacy according to the Public Diplomacy Strategy are highlighted. The role of Ukraine’s Information Security Strategy in public diplomacy is determined. The challenges for Ukraine’s public diplomacy, especially after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, are identified. The new role of public diplomacy and the peculiarities of opening the Ukrainian Institute representations outside Ukraine are substantiated. 

foreign policy, public diplomacy, institutionalization of public diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Public Diplomacy Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, national interests, international image, cultural diplomacy