U.S. President Trump ordered the removal of the ambassador to Ukraine after months of complaints from allies outside the administration, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, that she was undermining him abroad and obstructing efforts to persuade Kyiv to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
Trump’s personal lawyer Giuliani told the newspaper that Yovanovitch was biased against the U.S. president in private conversations and prevented Ukraine from conducting an investigation into Biden and his son Hunter.
In addition, the newspaper reports that Giuliani handed over to the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a nine-page document dated March 28 containing a schedule of Biden’s business meetings in Ukraine.
The document also claimed that Yovanovitch was very close to the former vice president.
It is noted that although the U.S. Department of State presented Yovanovitch’s departure from Ukraine in May as planned, her tenure as ambassador was three months shorter than the usual three-year term.
Earlier, U.S. media reported that Trump tried in a telephone conversation on July 25 to convince Zelensky of the need to launch an investigation against Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden.
An American intelligence officer complained in writing, and members of the U.S. Congress received the complaint for review. The complaint of intelligence officer statement prompted Democrats in the House of Representatives to initiate impeachment hearings against Trump.
In addition to U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Yovanovitch, democrats also requested State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent, State Department counselor T. Ulrich Brechbuhl and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland appear for depositions at the Congress.
On Thursday, Trump explicitly called on Ukraine and China to launch investigations into the activities of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his companies.
The new Ambassador of France to Ukraine, Etienne de Poncins, has arrived in Kyiv. “I’ve safely arrived in Kyiv. My mission as the head of the French Embassy in Ukraine may begin,” the diplomat wrote on Twitter.
Etienne de Poncins was appointed Ambassador of France to Ukraine on July 24. Prior to that, he worked as an inspector of the French Foreign Ministry, and in the European External Action Service, and was also the French ambassador to Kenya and Bulgaria.
The previous Ambassador of France to Ukraine, Isabelle Dumont, completed her work in Ukraine on July 27.
The Embassy of India in Kyiv in cooperation with the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) and the Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (IPMA) will hold an annual business seminar in Ukraine to promote and demonstrate the potential of India in the pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors, Indian Ambassador to Ukraine Partha Satpathy has stated at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine. “Pharmexcil is the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India. The main task of this organization is to unite all important pharmaceutical manufacturers in India. The council cooperates with the government, represents the interests of manufacturers in exports, in particular brings pharmaceutical products in compliance with the requirements of the WHO and the importing country,” the ambassador said.
President of the Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (IPMA) Dr. Menon, in turn, said that Pharmexcil plans to present several projects in Ukraine.
“Pharmexcil wants to find partners in Ukraine in the field of Ayurveda, clinical trials and create a joint venture for production of medicines,” he said.
The Indian ambassador noted that India is the third largest exporter of pharmaceutical products to Ukraine following Germany and France in terms of value, while Indian pharmaceutical companies supply high-quality products at a very good and competitive price.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has appointed Serhiy Shutenko Ambassador of Ukraine to Greece.
“To appoint Serhiy Oleksandrovych Shutenko extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Ukraine to Greece,” presidential decree No. 267/2018 of September 3 states.
Shutenko, born in 1968, worked in the Mission of Ukraine to NATO, as the Consul General of Ukraine in Thessaloniki (Greece), the deputy director of the personnel department of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has appointed Ambassador of Ukraine to the Kyrgyz Republic Valeriy Zhovtenko. Relevant presidential decree No. 264/2018 dated August 30, 2018 was made public on the website of the head of state on Thursday. “Appoint Valeriy Tymofiyovych Zhovtenko extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Ukraine in the Kyrgyz Republic,” the document says.
