U.S. Taps Ex-NATO Ambassador As Special Ukraine Envoy
KYIV -- Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, has been appointed to be the new U.S. special envoy to negotiate over the fate of war-racked Ukraine, two State Department officials confirmed to RFE/RL.
A pooled media report on July 7 also quoted State Department official R.C. Hammond as saying that Volker “will coordinate all State Department efforts to bring a resolution to the conflict created when Russia invaded Crimea and later eastern Ukraine,” Reuters reported.
As special envoy, Volker will reportedly seek to revive the failing Minsk peace agreement that has yet to stop the conflict, now in its fourth year with no end in sight.
More than 10,000 people have been killed and nearly 2 million others have been displaced by the fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists.
The appointment comes amid ongoing tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and continued backing of armed militants in eastern Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants to improve ties with Russia, though his administration so far has maintained the punitive measures targeting Russia for its actions in Ukraine that began under Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, while the U.S. Senate has tried to put itself in position to block efforts to ease Russia sanctions.
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin planned to have their first face-to-face sit-down talks on the sidelines of the summit on the afternoon of July 7.
During the Obama administration, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland served in the envoy role that Volker is set to take over.
Volker is likely to be dealing directly with Vladislav Surkov, a longtime senior aide to Putin.
Volker is expected to join Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during his visit to Kyiv on July 9, when Tillerson will meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and civil-society activists.
Poroshenko’s administration and the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv confirmed Poroshenko and Tillerson will deliver statements following their meeting.
A U.S. diplomatic source told RFE/RL that Volker is expected to stay over until July 10 to meet with other Ukrainian officials.