May 15, 2015

Chaly to become next ambassador to U.S., reports say

More

Razumkov Center

Valeriy Chaly, 44, a deputy head of the Presidential Administration, has been confirmed by Ukrainian media as the next Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S.

Valeriy Chaly, 44, a deputy head of the Presidential Administration, has been confirmed by Ukrainian media as the next Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S.

Razumkov Center

Valeriy Chaly, 44, a deputy head of the Presidential Administration, has been confirmed by Ukrainian media as the next Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S.

KYIV – Valeriy Chaly, a foreign affairs expert and government adviser, is likely to become Ukraine’s next ambassador to the U.S., Kyiv experts and mass media are increasingly reporting. The confirmation will be made not earlier than the EU Eastern Partnership summit in Riga on May 21-22, but it may come as late as the summer, said Volodymyr Fesenko, the head of the Penta Center for Applied Political Research in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian government sent a notice requesting the U.S.’s agreement in April and is waiting for a response, he said. The notice was sent as early as November, reported the Yevropeiska Pravda news site. (Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry could not confirm when the notice was sent in time for The Ukrainian Weekly’s deadline.)

The delay isn’t only from the U.S. side, he said. As the deputy head of the Presidential Administration who leads its foreign policy activity, Mr. Chaly is currently heavily involved in preparing for the Riga summit, as well as the Normandy format negotiations to resolve the armed conflict with the Russian Federation, Mr. Fesenko noted.

In the meantime, the Embassy in the U.S. is being led by Chargé d’Affaires Yaroslav Brisiuck.

“Chaly is the ideal candidate for this position,” Mr. Fesenko said. “He’s not a trained diplomat, but he has led the foreign policy work in the Presidential Administration for a year and knows well the mechanisms for reaching foreign policy decisions. Plus, he has contacts at the U.S. Congress and the U.S. State Department.”

Few appointments are as critical to Ukraine as its U.S. ambassador, particularly with Ukraine’s intensifying military cooperation with the U.S., as well as its dependency on Western loans and grants, especially from the U.S.

“Because of the serious issues faced by Ukraine on many fronts, Ukraine now needs the highest level and best Embassy staff it has ever had in Washington,” said Morgan Williams, the chair of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council.

For many years, Mr. Chaly, 44, has had close ties and enjoyed the trust of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. He served as his deputy when Mr. Poroshenko was tapped as foreign affairs minister for a brief tenure in October 2009 to March 2010.

Since 1995 he has served as the director of international programs in the Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Research, among the leading think tanks in Kyiv, leaving the post for various appointments. Throughout that time, he advised numerous government bodies on foreign policy issues.

Leaders in the Ukrainian American community shared a positive view of Mr. Chaly becoming the next ambassador, even expressing relief. They cited his excellent communication skills and command of English, as well as his approachable character and lifelong commitment to Western values and institutions.

“He is a very professional person who has been to Washington many times for meetings of think tanks, NGOs and conferences. He’s already well-known here,” said Mr. Williams.

In Kyiv in the fall of 2014, Mr. Williams attended a meeting involving Mr. Chaly at the Presidential Administration, just before Mr. Poroshenko traveled to the U.S. to address the U.S. Congress. “Valeriy was completely informed on the issues, contributed to the discussion and it was obvious he was a significant player,” he said.

U.S. Federal Judge Bohdan Futey recalled a more recent meeting, before Easter this year, at which Mr. Chaly spoke with Ukrainian American leaders at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington. He was a strong communicator who didn’t dodge questions, which is often the case with Ukrainian politicians and diplomats, he said.

“My impression is he’s the honest broker for the president, who will tell you what you might not want to hear but must know in order to form an opinion,” he said. “He was very informative and frank, answering all the questions we posed, and we look forward to working with him.”

The last ambassador to the U.S., Olexander Motsyk, 60, was dismissed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in mid-April without any announced replacement.

Unlike the U.S., which limits an ambassador’s service to three years, Ukraine doesn’t have such limits. Mr. Motsyk became the longest serving U.S. ambassador (June 2010-April 2015).

The native of Rivne got mixed reviews from leaders in the Ukrainian American community. He was effective, said Mr. Williams, noting that the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council cooperated with him on many events and bestowed upon him its distinguished service award.

Yet diaspora leaders were critical of his weak position during Euro-Maidan protest and the war in the Donbas.

“Motsyk was a total stooge for [Viktor] Yanukovych up until the last minute,” said Askold Lozynskyj, the former president of the Ukrainian World Congress.

U.S. government officials didn’t take Mr. Motsyk seriously “because he was such an outright apologist” for the corrupt Yanukovych administration, Taras Kuzio, a non-resident fellow of the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University, said in late April after the ambassador was dismissed.

Mr. Chaly speaks English well, knows the international world – which is not the case for the majority of Ukrainian elites, and is 100 percent pro-Western, Dr. Kuzio added. “I always found him approachable, and if he knew you, he was honest about his views: two traits that are not common in Kyiv.”

“Any ambassador has to not sound like a boring official and apologist for his government. He has to come across as credible, defending his country, while at the same time not having an inferiority complex that leads to rejecting every criticism. There is a lot to criticize in Ukraine, and Ambassador Chaly should not turn this away if it is undertaken in an opportune manner by those, such as me, who are supporters of Ukraine,” Dr. Kuzio commented.

A brief biography: Valeriy Chaly

• Born July 1, 1970 in Vinnytsia.

• 1992 – graduated the Vinnytsia State Teachers Institute.

• 1995 – completed postgraduate studies (aspirantura) at the Institute of International Relations at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv.

• 1995-1997 – director of international legal programs at the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Research (named after Oleksandr Razumkov in 2000).

• 1997-1999 – aide to Razumkov, the deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

• Since December 1999 – director of international programs at the Razumkov Center.

• Since May 2000 – non-staff consultant to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Verkhovna Rada.

• Since January 2002 – member of the academic council of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

• Since December 2002 – member of the expert council of the European Integration Committee of the Verkhovna Rada.

• November 2009 – April 2010 – deputy foreign affairs minister.

• June 2014 – appointed deputy head of the Presidential Administration.

• August 2014 – achieved the diplomatic rank of extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador.

Comments are closed.