Appointment of Umerov as ambassador to US could trigger quick Ukraine's Cabinet shake-up
Photo: Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov (Getty Images)
The final decision regarding personnel changes in the government could be made quite soon. A possible appointment of Defense Minister Rustem Umerov as Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US may trigger a personnel reshuffle, according to RBC-Ukraine's informed source.
According to the source, the timing will be influenced by a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors scheduled for July 21.
"There are no exact dates yet, but likely by the time of this meeting, it will already be clear who will become our new ambassador to the US. Accordingly, the situation with who will head the Ministry of Defense will also become clearer. And that, in turn, will lead to other government reshuffles," the source said.
When asked if current Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal would take over as Defense Minister in case Umerov is appointed ambassador (which could lead to the resignation of the entire Cabinet), he replied that this is "not necessarily" the case.
It should be noted that the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament - ed.) will hold sessions next week from July 15 to 18. After that, deputies will take a break until mid-August and return to the session hall only on August 19.
Umerov may become Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US
Recently, it became known that Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, resigned.
On July 10, President Volodymyr Zelenskнy said that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov could lead Ukraine’s embassy in the US. In that case, major reshuffles in the Cabinet will be necessary.
"As for the new ambassador and the Cabinet of Ministers, I’ll be honest: if I decide, and this will happen soon, that representing Ukraine in the US - our key diplomatic post - should be Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, that will undoubtedly lead to serious reshuffling within Ukraine’s government, and for obvious reasons," he said.
Earlier, sources speaking to RBC-Ukraine named other candidates besides Umerov who could replace Markarova as ambassador. These include Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna, and Energy Minister German Galushchenko.
