U.S. envoy to Ukraine set to leave post
The top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, William Taylor, will be leaving his post next month, following a short term marked by the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. In an e-mail to The New York Times on December 17, Ambassador Taylor said he would step down in early January because his temporary appointment to Ukraine in June is set to expire. The Trump administration “will nominate a permanent ambassador soon,” he wrote, without elaborating. Earlier media reports quoted unidentified U.S. officials as saying that Ambassador Taylor, the chargé d’affaires at the Kyiv Embassy, would leave his post by the end of the month or in early January. He will be replaced on an interim basis by his current deputy, Kristina Kvien, according to the Associated Press. Ambassador Taylor’s testimony before the Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee last month helped build the case for impeaching President Trump, who is accused of pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate the U.S. president’s political opponent Joe Biden by withholding military aid.