Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanyshyna, responsible for Euro-Atlantic integration, will be Ukraine's new ambassador to the United States, Reuters reported.
Zelensky wrote on "Telegram" that he had appointed Stefanyshyna as a special presidential representative to the United States so that she could develop relations with Washington while the procedures necessary for her to take office as ambassador are underway.
Ukraine is seeking to repair shaky relations with the United States after Zelensky and his US counterpart Donald Trump got into a public verbal clash at the White House in February, Reuters reports.
Stefanyshyna holds the position of Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration since 2020, during which time Ukraine began the process of joining the European Union.
The current Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, incurred the wrath of Trump's team during his 2024 election campaign against Democratic President Joe Biden.
Markarova was accused by Republicans of helping Biden's Democratic Party by organizing Zelensky's visit to a munitions plant in Pennsylvania in the fall of 2024, during which the Ukrainian president met with representatives of the Democrats, but not Republicans.
The incident was recalled by US Vice President J.D. Vance during a verbal clash with Zelensky at the ill-fated meeting at the White House, which Markarova also attended, Reuters notes.