Former U.S. Ambassador To Head Embassy During Ukrainian Elections
The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, will lead America’s diplomatic mission in Kyiv during parliamentary elections in July, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on June 18.
The 72-year-old Taylor will serve as charge d’affaires during the election campaign and July 21 vote, the embassy said in a statement.
He replaces Kristina Kvien, the deputy chief of mission who took over as acting charge d'affaires following the departure of U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch in May.
Taylor was ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009 and most recently was executive vice president at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Taylor said in a June 18 statement that he wants to build “strong working relationships” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his team as well as “other Ukrainian officials and political forces.”
He said the United States also wants to maintain its “strong partnerships with civil society organizations and the Ukrainian people.”
“The United States remains deeply committed to the success of a stable, prosperous, democratic, and free Ukraine, and we continue to stand in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Taylor said.
Ukrainian President Seeks 'Pressure' On Russia At Talks With Merkel In Berlin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on June 18 – a day after Zelenskiy urged Kyiv’s European backers to keep “pressure” on Russia to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said the agenda of Merkel’s meeting with Zelenskiy included talks on the implementation of the Minsk accords and the course of reforms in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.
Seibert said the two also would discuss issues related to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is meant to carry Russian natural gas beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany but faces a threat of new U.S. sanctions.
Washington, Kyiv, and Poland argue that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would help Russia bypass infrastructure in Ukraine, allowing Moscow to use energy supplies as an economic weapon against its neighbors without disrupting its exports to Western Europe.
Russia and Germany maintain that the pipeline is strictly a commercial project.
On June 17, during a visit to Paris where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron, Zelenskiy called for European Union countries not to ease up their pressure on Moscow over its seizure and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and Russia’s support for separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine.
Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, and the Kyiv Post
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From RFE/RL's news desk:
In Paris, Ukraine's Zelenskiy Calls For Continued 'Pressure' On Russia, Macron Vows To Help Peace Efforts
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged his country’s European backers to keep "pressure" on Russia to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine as he met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
"The only key to peace is diplomatic and sanctions' pressure," Zelenskiy said at a joint news conference with Macron on June 17, adding: "Therefore, I am asking you to maintain this [path]."
"Europe won't feel secure as long as Russia pretends there is no rule of law," the Ukrainian president said.
Fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists holding parts of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk has killed some 13,000 people since April 2014, shortly after Russia seized control of Ukraine's Crimea region.
The European Union, the United States, and other countries have imposed sanctions on Russia over Moscow's seizure of Crimea and its support for the separatists.
Macron applauded Zelenskiy's desire to end the war, saying: "You have a lot of ambition for your country and you have a lot of courage."
He also vowed to keep working to revive talks in the so-called Normandy format of countries seeking a resolution to the conflict.
"There could be a summit under the Normandy format in Paris to take account of the progress that has been achieved," the French president said.
France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia are part of the format, which has not held talks in two years. Meanwhile, cease-fire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords in September 2014 and February 2015 have failed to hold.
Zelenskiy is scheduled to meet with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin on June 18.
A comic actor with no previous political experience, Zelenskiy beat incumbent Petro Poroshenko by a large margin in an April 21 presidential runoff. He was inaugurated as president on May 20.
Earlier this month, Zelenskiy made his first foreign trip as president to EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels.
During that visit, he reaffirmed Ukraine’s course toward Euro-Atlantic integration, and vowed that under his leadership the country would implement reforms and intensify the fight against corruption.