UPDATE - US State Dept. Will Soon Nominate Permanent Ambassador For Ukraine - Blinken

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th June, 2021) The US State Department plans to fill soon the position permanent ambassador to Ukraine that has been vacant since the departure of the previous ambassador in 2019, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a congressional hearing.

"We are trying to move forward on that [nomination] as quickly as possible," Blinken told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday. "It is a priority for us and for the President [Joe Biden]. I want to make sure that we have the strongest possible person leading the strongest possible team in Ukraine."

Blinken pointed out that there is a special procedure of moving forward with an ambassador nomination in the State Department and they are in the midst of nominating a new diplomat for Ukraine.

The last US ambassador for Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was removed from her post in Kiev by former President Donald Trump in May 2019. Trump never gave a clear explanation for this action, but her dismissal came at a time when his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was investigating Joe Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate, and his son Hunter Biden over their involvement in Ukraine during the Obama administration.