“Doing so shows no self-respect”: on Announcing Umerov’s Candidacy as U.S. Ambassador Before Official Approval

Doing so shows no self‑respect: Chalyi on announcing Umerov’s candidacy for U.S. ambassador before official approval is received“Doing so shows no self-respect”: Valeriy Chalyi on Announcing Umerov’s Candidacy as U.S. Ambassador Before Official Approval.

It’s unclear how the Americans will react to the announcement of Rustem Umerov’s candidacy for the post of Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States before receiving official approval from Washington.

This opinion was expressed by Valeriy Chalyi, Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center and Ukraine’s former Ambassador to the U.S., during an appearance on Espreso.TV.

“Even in wartime conditions, when attitudes toward Ukraine are currently more relaxed, and in the U.S. they may treat these protocols (regarding ambassadorial nominations – ed.) a bit differently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided that a phone conversation with the U.S. president would be sufficient. I don’t even know whether he mentioned a specific name. So we were told that a decision had been made — the ambassador would be replaced.

But the difference is this: when you send a request for an agrément (a formal diplomatic approval – ed.), it is processed through official signatures and corresponding letters. In 99 out of 100 cases, the receiving country approves it, because it means the president is appointing the most respected and suitable individual to represent the country — and the president personally — in the United States,” he said.

Valeriy Chalyi noted that the response from the receiving side is unlikely to be negative when everything is done in the proper sequence. But in the current situation, it’s unclear how the Americans will react.

“If you start asking around or leak it to the media that there are multiple candidates — as you saw, several names were mentioned — that sparks speculation. You know, behaving like that shows no self-respect. That’s why I think that after such maneuvers, it’s not at all certain that the announced candidate for ambassador…

I don’t know how the Americans will respond now. I really don’t. They’re also going through a period of moving away from established norms.

This is not the best example. For the Americans, such matters are taken very seriously — and there’s currently intense debate about it in the U.S. Their State Department is being downsized by around 3,000 positions.

Entire divisions are being cut. Yet even in that context, they won’t submit a nominee to the Senate without first securing approval from the host country. And so, we’re now in an abnormal situation too. We still don’t have a U.S. ambassador in Ukraine — and that’s a very problematic situation,” the diplomat said.

On Thursday, July 10, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the potential appointment of Defense Minister Rustem Umerov as Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reportedly weighing the dismissal of Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, with plans to appoint him as Ukraine’s next ambassador to the United States – the country where his family is currently based. Here is a brief reminder what’s wrong with Rustem Umerov as a head of strategic Defense Minister prepared by the Anti-Corruption Action Center.

EMPR