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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The vacant post of Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States after Olga Stefanishyna’s resignation is now the most critical point of Ukrainian diplomacy. Its outcome directly affects the preservation of military and financial support from the White House. The situation has been pushed to the limit: former NSDC Secretary Rustem Umerov has finally fallen off the American track and moved to the position of head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Who are the main candidates for the post of ambassador in Washington now, why, and what is the advantage of each candidate — in the material Short About.
Career diplomats are not considered
Right away it should be noted that the bench of alternates on this track is very small. Now, there are only two real candidates on the president’s table — former Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Deputy Head of the Office of the President Pavlo Palisa.
Former ambassador Olga Stefanishyna spent very little time in Washington (less than a year) and never managed to properly grasp Ukraine’s most complex American agenda, forge deep personal connections with the Trump administration, and establish a working routine. Therefore, the new ambassador is expected not only to represent the country but to immediately engage in addressing Ukraine’s existential tasks.
Such as, for example, pushing for weapons and money and ensuring uninterrupted supplies of air defense, artillery shells, and long-range missiles. Or launching joint Ukrainian-American defense projects, implementing defense programs, including the launch of the Drone Deal and Freya programs for the joint manufacture of drones and equipment.
At the same time, the new Ukrainian ambassador should adhere to economic pragmatism and build relations with Donald Trump in a language of clear commercial gain and investment. Therefore, given these strict constraints and tasks, Volodymyr Zelensky has not even considered candidates from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. The president publicly stated that the ambassador should be a person of the level of prime minister or deputy prime minister.
Ambassador-technoctrat
Thus, the circle narrowed to two completely different but substantial figures. Candidate No. 1 — former Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, who has proven herself as an ideal technocrat and pragmatist during her time as head of the Cabinet of Ministers and is a strong fit for the post of ambassador to Washington.
She is long- and deeply involved in the Kyiv–Washington track of relations. While vice prime minister and minister of economy, Svyrydenko for years led direct negotiations with the White House, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Treasury. She personally knows key players in Washington and understands perfectly how U.S. aid is provided. Zelensky officially confirmed that he personally offered her this post.
But Svyrydenko initially declined this offer, not wanting to go into diplomatic work, but the Office of the President continues negotiations with her.
Candidate favored by Donald Trump
The second candidate is a military diplomat, Brigadier General, Hero of Ukraine, and current Deputy Head of the Office of the President Pavlo Palisa. He became the main alternative to Svyrydenko after Stefanishyna’s dismissal.
Palisa’s main trump card is the affinity from Donald Trump himself, who publicly called the general his “favorite soldier” in Ukraine after personal meetings of the delegations. Therefore, President Zelensky tasked Palisa with expanding joint defense projects with American companies. With Western military education and combat experience (former commander of the 93-th Brigade), Palisa could become the ideal military ambassador for Trump.
There are no other proven surnames on Ukraine’s short list — the Foreign Ministry did not even include the U.S. ambassador position in its latest appointment lists. Appointing Svyrydenko would mean betting on systemic deep integration and the economy, while appointing Palisa would mean personal diplomacy with Trump and rapid military contracts.
Who has better chances
Whose bonuses are more important to President Zelensky?
International affairs expert Taras Zahorodniy believes that, among the two candidates, it would be more practical to appoint Pavlo Palisa as ambassador to the United States. Moreover, Yulia Svyrydenko has not yet agreed to the president’s offer.
- In terms of military-technical cooperation, of course Palisa would probably be more interesting, especially since he is a military man, an authority, with a connection to the Pentagon. What are our current priority goals — primarily military-technical cooperation with the United States, embedding them into a system as a ally of the Israeli scenario. And so, of course, Palisa would be more interesting. And Trump himself noticed, noted, and remembered him, calling him “the best Ukrainian soldier.”
Political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko agrees with him for other reasons:
- Yulia Svyrydenko herself does not want this post, and if she does not want to work, then why appoint her? She cannot be an effective ambassador without a desire to work. There is also the view that the international track, to put it mildly, is not her strongest suit. She has never shown a great interest in international politics. So I think the question with Svyrydenko is closed, and her candidacy is no longer being considered for the ambassador post, — the analyst speculates.
And therefore candidate No. 1 is Pavlo Palisa.
- Palisa already has experience in negotiations with Trump, knows how to work with the White House. So now, it seems, candidate No. 1 is Palisa, — says Volodymyr Fesenko.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Хто стане новим послом у США: технократ Свириденко чи «найкращий солдат» Паліса". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: KP.UA.
