"There Could Not Have Been a Refusal." Ukraine Did Not Offer Umerov to the US for an Ambassador Post – Media

The information that the Ukrainian side sent a request to the United States regarding the candidacy of the newly appointed head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (FISU), Rustem Umerov, for the post of Ukraine’s ambassador to the US is not true. This was reported on 7 August by the Interfax-Ukraine agency, citing a Ukrainian diplomatic source.

Earlier, media outlets named Umerov as one of the main candidates for the post of Ukraine’s ambassador to the US. On 6 August, Member of Parliament Oleksiy Honcharenko wrote on Telegram that Umerov "was still intended to be submitted for the US ambassadorship." "His candidacy was proposed to the US, but the State Department politely refused," Honcharenko said.

The agency’s interlocutor denied the information about any approach to the US regarding Umerov.

"Since there were no approaches, there could not have been any refusals," the source said.

The interlocutor also explained that, in general, the procedure for appointing heads of diplomatic missions involves well-defined, established diplomatic processes, and Ukraine did not send agrément to the US regarding Umerov.

MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak claims that "our own people refused Umerov; they’re still thinking about whom to send there." According to him, as of 6 August there is not a single agreed-upon candidate.