Valery Chaly, the deputy head of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's administration, is expected to become Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, replacing Oleksandr Motsyk this summer, according to sources close to the president. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
In Washington, D.C., meanwhile, the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council will host a going away dinner for Motsyk on April 16 to honor him for his five years of service as Ukraine’s representative.
Chaly, born in 1970 in Vinnytsia, has served as deputy head of the Presidential Administration since June 19. He also served as deputy foreign minister of Ukraine from November 2009 to April 2010 when Poroshenko served as foreign minister, mostly under former President Viktor Yushchenko.
Before that, he worked as deputy director general of Razumkov Center think tank and as its director of the international programs from 2006-2009 and again in 2010 until his appointment with the Presidential Administration.
Motsyk, 59, had served as Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington since June 2010, when he was appointed by Viktor Yanukovych, who fled power on Feb. 22, 2014, at the height of the EuroMaidan Revolution against him.
Motsyk had the challenge of defending the Yanukovych government during the revolution against allegations of dictatorship, human rights abuses and murder. Later, after the change in power, he went on accuse Yanukovych and his allies of many of the crimes that he had previously defended them against. In all, besides Poroshenko, he served three heads of state if Oleksandr Turchynov, acting president from February through May 2014, is counted.
In a May 24, 2014, op-ed, Motsyk wrote for USA Today newspaper: “Following the Revolution of Dignity, the Ukrainian parliament appointed a new pro-democratic and pro-European Ukrainian government that replaced the former corrupt regime of Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country after failing to silence with guns the mass protests of the people who no longer wanted to suffer his autocracy.”
As the next ambassador from Ukraine, one of Chaly’s biggest challenges will be to convince U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration to provide more robust support for Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s year-long war against the eastern Donbas following the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea.
Chaly is seen to have an advantage over Motsyk because of his long and close working relationship with Poroshenko.
Thus far, the Obama administration has refused to supply Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons or provide anything close to a multibillion-dollar package of military and economic assistance that many think is vital to Ukraine’s ability to prevail in the war.
Moreover, the Obama administration has been timid in applying economic sanctions to punish Russian aggression, not willing to go further than the dovish and often divided European Union. Consequently, the current mild sanctions may have been successful in showing moral outrage and harming some aspects of Russia’s economy, but are seen as not strong enough — combined with the lack of military aid to Ukraine — to deter Russia.
Some critics had faulted Motsyk for not providing the robust lobbying of Ukraine’s interests needed in Washington, D.C., although he frequently wrote op-eds, gave speeches, testified before Congress and helped advance Ukraine’s belated presence on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
In March testimony before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, Motsyk argued in favor of the U.S. supplying defensive lethal weapons to Ukraine because “it will incline Moscow to negotiate or at least waive any remaining doubts about its strategic intentions.”
Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected]
