U.S. Ambassador John Herbst is wrapping up his three-year tour of duty in Ukraine.
John Herbst, who has served as United States Ambassador to Ukraine since 2003, will soon depart from his post in Ukraine accepting the post as Coordinator of the Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization, which was created on August 5, 2004 at the Department of State.
Herbst will replace Carlos Pascual, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 2000 till 2003, as coordinator of the office.
A March 20 announcement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated that Herbst will start his new job later this spring.
In his new appointment, Herbst’s main task will be “helping governments abroad exercise sovereignty over their own territory,” the U.S. State Department’s website quoting U.S. President George Bush as saying.
No official statement has been made on Herbst’s replacement. The U.S. Embassy’s press service confirmed that he would be leaving, but would not disclose on what date or who would replace him.
Prior to his appointment in Ukraine, Herbst served as the U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan. Before that he served as American Consul General in Jerusalem. In the past, he has also served as the Principal Deputy to the Ambassador at Large for the Newly Independent States (former Soviet Republics), as the Director of the Office of Independent States and Commonwealth Affairs, and as the Director of Regional Affairs in the State Department’s Near East Bureau. He has also worked as a political counselor at the U.S. embassies in Moscow and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Herbst is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and holds the rank of Minister-Counselor.
False rumors?
Several Ukrainian television channels reported on March 21-22 that it was quite possible that Pascual would return to Ukraine, replacing Herbst.
Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv could neither confirm nor deny these reports as of mid-day March 22. But informed sources refuted the reports, adding that Pascual has recently left the State Department accepting a position at a well-know American think tank, the Brookings Institution, a private nonprofit organization devoted to independent research and innovative policy solutions. Pascual accepted a post at there this February. He serves as Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy Studies.
Informed sources told the Post late on March 22 that the new Ambassador to Ukraine would likely be William Taylor, who previously headed the Iraq reconstruction Management Office.
