James Pettit is acting ambassador until the Senate confirms a replacement for William Taylor, who left on May 23.
(Kyiv Post Staff) – The U.S. Embassy is not likely to have a new ambassador in place until fall, when Ukraine’s presidential election shifts into higher gear.
Informed sources told the Kyiv Post that a leading candidate is John F. Tefft, most recently the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, which – along with Ukraine — find themselves as rare pro-Western allies among former Soviet republics.
William Taylor, the sixth U.S. ambassador to have served in Ukraine since the country became independent in 1991, left on May 23 after a three year tour of duty. His future plans remain unclear. Deputy Chief of Mission James Pettit is serving as acting ambassador, a position officially called charge d’affaires.
Some have speculated that the candidate to be nominated as next U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine would be named during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv on July 20-22. Biden will stop off in Georgia after Kyiv.
But in a July 10 report published by Kyiv-based Glavred magazine, Pettit was cited as saying that a new ambassador may not be formally approved until autumn. “Understanding the process of the selection of an ambassador and the constitutional requirement that a new Ambassador be confirmed by the Senate, I do not think that it will be before the end of the summer, especially since our Senate will be in recess during August. I am hopeful, but I cannot promise, that we will have an ambassador by the end of September,” Pettit told Glavred.
