USA recalled acting Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor: who will replace him

Acting US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor is to leave his post and return to Washington on January 2, reports “Voice of America" with reference to NBC.

In response to this post, Democratic Senator Robert Menendez wrote a formal request to the US Secretary of State.

According to the senator, Taylor’s recall will create a void in diplomacy at a time when relations between the United States and Ukraine are in the center of special attention of America and when Russia continues military aggression against Ukraine.

Edition Politico notes that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to visit Ukraine next month in support. The trip, confirmed by a Trump administration official, will be Pompeo's first visit to the country as America's top diplomat.

The gloomy circumstances of the overthrow of Marie Jovanovic are at the core of the Democrats investigation into Trump's behavior towards Ukraine. The investigation could lead the House of Representatives to impeach the president for the third time in US history.

On the subject: Open hearing on the impeachment of trump: testimony of former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Jovanovic

Among those expected to replace Yovanovitch is retired Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, a 40-year Army veteran who is currently director of the Pentagon-affiliated George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. The president likes Dayton, a Senate aide said, and the former general is "ready to take the job."

Photo: video frame YouTube / WashingtonInstitute

Several key U.S. diplomats testified during an investigation into the impeachment against Trump. One of them, William Taylor, is a senior diplomat at the US Embassy in Kiev; the other, Gordon Sondland, is Trump's ambassador to the European Union. A third diplomat resigned: Kurt Walker, an unpaid special envoy for negotiations in Ukraine, resigned when a scandal erupted.

Officials in Kiev and Washington hope that the new ambassador will be able to stabilize relations that remain fragile and exploitable by the hostile Kremlin.

Recently it became known that Ukraine has chosen a new ambassador to the United States. Vladimir Yelchenko, who is currently Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, is about to take office after Valery Chaly, who wrote an article criticizing Trump’s position in Crimea during the election. The Trump administration official acknowledged the problem of Ukraine’s “normal” policies "because of the huge political attention" regarding impeachment. But the official stressed that both sides have common interests.

On the subject: The most experienced and respected diplomat: who will become the new ambassador of Ukraine to the USA

Ukrainians are also “sincerely grateful for the help” the US provided to them in their war with Russia, the official said. Trump is pleased that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky recently met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in an attempt to resolve the conflict.

Another likely candidate to replace Yovanovitch is Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philippe Reeker. Ricker is a career Foreign Service officer who also testified in late October.

“I believe that after speaking with Councilman Brechbuhl, they have narrowed down the list of names,” Ricker said when asked about the status of the search. Ulrich Brechbuhl, a former West Point classmate of Pompeo's, is one of the secretary of state's top aides and closest confidantes.

“I know he had a meeting where he discussed several names, including mine, and some of them I am familiar with,” Ricker said.

Philip Ricoeur. Photo: video frame YouTube / AtlanticCouncil

Ricker also said that he was initially approached with a proposal to replace Jovanovic in the winter of 2018, but Taylor was eventually selected on a temporary basis.

Dayton has direct experience in Kyiv, and last November he was appointed by Defense Secretary James Mattis as a senior US defense adviser on Ukraine. And he is familiar with the challenges involved in training and equipping foreign militaries. His last assignment while on active duty was as U.S. security coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, according to his online biography.

Former State Department official Daniel Fried said Dayton is "respected" and "experienced" and would be a "smart choice" if nominated. According to former Pentagon official Michael Carpenter, one of Dayton's recent projects at the Center. Marshall, a highly praised course for Ukrainians on anti-corruption and defense reform, could be consistent with official US policy goals.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• In June 2016, the White House announced the official nomination of a diplomat Marie Yovanovitch to the post of United States Ambassador to Ukraine. Who is she and what did she plan to do at the time she took office - Read here.
• On March 20, 2019, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko said in an interview with The Hill that launched an investigation into members of law enforcement countries as to whether leak of financial reports of the Party of Regions in 2016 about deals with the then head of Trump's campaign headquarters, Paul Manafort, deliberate, and whether the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies were trying to influence the US presidential campaign in favor of Hillary Clinton in this way.
• Lutsenko claimed that Jovanovic gave him a list of people whom he should not pursue, and refused to cooperate in the investigation of the misappropriation of American financial assistance in Ukraine. The embassy denied such allegations. Later, Lutsenko admitted that Jovanovic did not give him a "list of untouchables"for which allegedly it was impossible to initiate an investigation, although he had previously stated the opposite.
• President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in this situation sided with Marie Yovanovitch, expressing his full support for the US ambassador to Ukraine and satisfaction with the strategic partnership with the United States. And there are reasons for this. We wrote in detail about how the authorities in Ukraine corrupted the American democrats and influenced the US election in favor of Clinton.
• 20 March, former US Attorney Joe DiJenova announces need for Hannity Fox News interview remove Jovanovic from his position because of her actions to “undermine the credibility” of the Trump administration.
• He also asked that Pete Sessions (a Republican from Texas), who at that time served as chairman of the Rules Committee, wrote about the dismissal of Jovanovic back in 2018, who at that time wrote personal letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with a request to withdraw Jovanovicclaiming that she made dismissive statements about President Trump. Jovanovic left Ukraine on May 20, 2019.
• In mid-June, the American diplomatic mission in Kiev reported arrival to the country of the new US Chargé d'Affaires to Ukraine William Taylor, who will lead the embassy during the "transition period" after the July parliamentary elections. Taylor already held the post of US Ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009, and before his last appointment, he was Executive Vice President of the United States Peace Institute.
• On Wednesday, November 13, the U.S. House of Representatives began an open hearing as part of an investigation into impeachment against President Donald Trump. During these hearings, William Taylor testify under oath.
• On November 15, 2019, the House’s Intelligence Committee held a second public hearing as part of an investigation into the possible impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump. The hearings were open and broadcast live by several American television channels. Gave evidence ex-ambassador Marie Jovanovic.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Sanctions against Russian gas pipelines and aid to Ukraine: US Senate approves military budget

Trump impeachment hearing: testimony of former US special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Walker

'Corrupt and terrible people': Volcker told what Trump thinks about Ukraine

Shokin poisoning and Biden corruption: Giuliani published material collected in Ukraine

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