Kyiv struggles to find candidate for US ambassador post

Ukrainian authorities have not yet selected a candidate to replace the dismissed Ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, according to Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

“As of now, there is no agreed candidate. There isn't even a shortlist. <...> After [former Prime Minister Yulia] Svyrydenko declined, and [former National Security and Defence Council Secretary, now head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Rustem] Umerov was rejected, they are still considering whom to send. It could even be a very unexpected candidate,” Zheleznyak wrote on his Telegram channel.

He stressed that all names currently circulating in the media are nothing more than speculation or rumours.

On August 3, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Stefanishyna from her post as Ukraine's ambassador to the United States. No official announcement has been made regarding her successor.

Earlier reports said the position had been offered to former Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, but she declined. Rustem Umerov was also mentioned as a likely candidate. However, according to Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko, the United States did not approve his appointment.

By Jeyhun Aghazada