German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaking aside U.S. State Secretary John Kerry to journalists this morning, ahead of the second day of a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Luebeck, Germany:
"The weather in international politics is quite stormy -- the conflict in eastern Ukraine is only two hours away from here. We [will be] discussing the situation in Ukraine, the Ukrainian conflict later on. We will be starting today with [where we] stand in our negotiations with Iran. We have to discuss the situation in the Middle East with ISIL [in mind] -- about Iraq and Syria."
More on the diplomatic shuffle by Kyiv, from our Washington correspondent Carl Schreck:
Ukrainian President Poroshenko Dismisses Envoy To U.S.
Andrij Dobriansky, a spokesman for the New York-based advocacy group the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, speaking to RFE/RL about Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's announcement that he was dismissing his ambassador to Washington:
“We needed somebody who can get results done, and frankly, at this time, I can’t say that we saw results coming out of [Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksandr Motsyk’s] office.”
“It’s been over a year since Crimea got invaded, so what we’ve been waiting for is to have a stronger voice in Washington.”
“The ambassador of Ukraine to the United States is a major appointment, and as organized Ukrainian-American groups, we’ve been waiting for somebody else to be in that role, frankly just because of the normal nature of things when new administrations are put together, but especially at this time.”
That concludes our live blogging for Tuesday, April 14.
Former POW and lawyer to current one:
From our newsroom:
Ukrainian President Poroshenko Dismisses Envoy To U.S.
krainian President Petro Poroshenko has dismissed his ambassador to the United States, whose tenure in Washington has spanned the duration of Kyiv’s year-long conflict with Russia.
Poroshenko did not provide an explanation for the dismissal in his April 14 decree relieving Ambassador Oleksandr Motsyk of his post as Ukraine's envoy to the United States.
Ukrainian media have speculated that Valeriy Chaly, deputy head of Poroshenko’s administration, could replace Motsyk. Chaly indicated on April 3 that he would accept the post if Poroshenko offered it.
Motsyk had served as Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington since June 2010, when he was appointed by then-President Viktor Yanukovych, who was chased from office by protests in February 2014.
The United States has been a crucial ally for Kyiv following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea territory in March 2014 and Kyiv’s battle with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.