Ambassador Melnyk commented on the rumors about his appointment in the USA to replace Markarova

The former ambassador of Ukraine to Germany, and now to Brazil, Andrii Melnyk, in an interview with Radio Svoboda, said that no one discussed with him the possibility of heading the embassy in the USA instead of Oksana Markarova, whose resignation was demanded by the Republicans.

“No one talked to me about anything. Therefore, these are all rumors – what we see and read in the press, and I would not even want to comment on them,” Melnyk stressed.

The ambassador, known for his sharp diplomatic style and, in particular, criticism of his successor in Germany, Ambassador Oleksiy Makeyev, praised the work of his colleague in the United States, Markarova.

“Oksana Markarova had one of the most difficult, without exaggeration, diplomatic missions in recent history. And it seems to me that she coped with it. She did everything possible and impossible so that the Americans would remain on our side, despite all the difficulties that we all remember – both in Congress and all these delays – the diplomat said.

At the same time, Melnyk acknowledged the likelihood of personnel changes in the American diplomatic direction.

“Now it is obvious that there will be, perhaps, some new decisions, changes. But I wouldn’t even want to comment on them, because this issue, at least for me, was not raised by anyone in any way,” summed up the ambassador of Ukraine in Brazil.

Ukrainian diplomat Dmytro Kuleba received an offer to become Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States immediately after his resignation from the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Radio Liberty learned about this from a diplomatic informed source, who is not authorized to comment on it officially. The interlocutor confirmed that Kulebi was offered to replace Oksana Markarova in the position, but the offer was given immediately after his resignation from the post of minister, and not “recently”, as the world press wrote.

In the first half of November, the Financial Times newspaper reported that Kyiv might recall the ambassador to Washington, Oksana Markarova, in order to “pacify the Trump team.” The publication also noted that this position was allegedly offered to Dmytro Kuleba, but he refused.