Andrii Deshchytsia

Andrii Bohdanovych Deshchytsia (Ukrainian: Андрій Богданович Дещиця; born 22 September 1965) is a Ukrainian diplomat, Ambassador of Ukraine and from February to June 2014 Acting Foreign minister of Ukraine.[1]

Andrii Deshchytsia
Андрій Богданович Дещиця
Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland
Assumed office
13 October 2014
PresidentPetro Poroshenko
Volodymyr Zelensky
Preceded byVladyslav Kanevsky (temporary chargé d'affaires)
Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
27 February – 19 June 2014
PresidentOleksandr Turchynov (acting)
Petro Poroshenko
Prime MinisterArseniy Yatsenyuk
Preceded byLeonid Kozhara
Succeeded byPavlo Klimkin[1]
Ambassador of Ukraine to Finland
In office
2008–2012
PresidentViktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yanukovych
Preceded byOleksandr Maidannyk
Succeeded byOleksiy Selin
Personal details
Born
Andrii Bohdanovych Deshchytsia

(1965-09-22) 22 September 1965
Lviv region, Ukrainian SSR
Alma materLviv University
University of Alberta

Early life and education

Born on September 22, 1965, in Spasiv, near Pervyatychi, Lviv region, Deshchytsia graduated from Ivan Franko Lviv National University (1989), University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) (1995). Graduated with a master's degree from the Department of History of University of Alberta in 1995 following the successful defense of his master's thesis, "The Rise of Multi-Party Systems in Poland and Ukraine," written under the supervision of Professor John-Paul Himka.[2] Fluent in Ukrainian, English, Russian and Polish.

Professional career

Early positions

From 1996 to 1999, he served as press Secretary, First Secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine to the Republic of Poland. He then spent 1999—2001 as Senior Coordinator of PAUCI (Polish-American-Ukrainian Cooperation Initiative).

From 2001—2004 he was counselor of the Embassy of Ukraine to the Republic of Finland. He then spent until 2006 as Counselor and Minister-Counselor of the Embassy of Ukraine to the Republic of Poland.

2006—2008 he was Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. He then spent four years, from 2008 to 2012, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Finland and Iceland, while living in Finland. From 2012 to February, 2014, he was Ambassador-at-Large. During that time, from January–December, 2013, he was Special Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Conflict Resolution.[3]

As Ukrainian Foreign Minister

On February 27, 2014, was appointed Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.[4]

UN Resolution on Territorial integrity of Ukraine

On March 27, 2014, at the UN General Assembly, Deshchytsia presented the resolution on "Territorial integrity of Ukraine", which was supported by 100 United Nations member states, affirming the United Nations commitment to recognize Crimea within Ukraine's international borders and to condemn Crimea's annexation by Russia as illegal.

Geneva Statement on Ukraine
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with Deshchytsia in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 17, 2014

On 17 April 2014, Deshchytsia negotiated with John Kerry, Catherine Ashton and Sergei Lavrov at a quadrilateral meeting in Geneva in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine. The resulting Geneva Statement on Ukraine laid ground for de-escalating the crisis. However, Russia has repeatedly breached its commitments under the Geneva agreement, according to official statements of the leaders of the EU and the United States. One week after the joint Geneva Statement, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russia of failing to adhere to Geneva commitments by orchestrating armed resistance in eastern Ukraine.[5] U.S. President Barack Obama stated that Vladimir Putin has 'not lifted a finger' to ease tensions.[6] President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy acknowledged that Russia has not lived up to its Geneva commitments.[7]

Advocating sanctions against Russia

In May 2014, Deshchytsia said: "The West should impose more severe sanctions that hit specific economic sectors such as banking and target Russian decision makers.[8] Deshchytsia labeled pro-Russian separatists as "terrorists".[9]

Progress in visa-free regime with EU for Ukrainian citizens

Deshchytsia also said "We expect that the decision (to switch to the 2nd phase of the introduction of a visa-free regime with Ukraine) will be taken at the EU Council's meeting on June 23".[10]

Incident near the Russian Embassy

On June 14, 2014, protesters had swarmed on the Russian embassy - overturning the embassy car and throwing paint and egg missiles — after pro-Russian combatants shot down a Ukrainian plane, killing 49 on board. Deshchytsia had descended on the protest in the hope that he could quell the escalating trouble, pleading with the demonstrators not to attack the building despite also understanding their concerns. "Did I say that I am against you protesting? I am for you protesting. I am ready to be here with you and say 'Russia, get out of Ukraine'," he told the baying crowd. "Yes, Putin is a huylo, yes," he said.[11][12] However, Geoffrey Pyatt, the US ambassador to Ukraine, wrote on Twitter that the minister had been "seeking to defuse a dangerous situation", adding that Deshchytsia is "a skilled diplomat and credit to Ukraine".[12] On June 19, 2014, with the recent Presidential change, Deschytsia was replaced with Pavlo Klimkin, the former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany.[13][14]

Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland

On 13 October 2014 President Petro Poroshenko appointed Deshchytsia Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland.[15]

Diplomatic rank
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine.
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References
  1. Parliament appoints Klimkin as Ukrainian foreign minister, Interfax-Ukraine (19 June 2014)
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Ambassador Deshchytsia: Ukraine optimistic about prospects of Transnistrian settlement". Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  4. "Deshchytsia Andrii - Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine". MFA of Ukraine. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  5. http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-accuses-russia-of-ignoring-geneva-agreement-on-ukraine/1900859.html
  6. https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/obama-vladimir-putin-lifted-finger-ease-tensions-23487958
  7. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/142565.pdf
  8. "Ukrainian foreign minister calls on West to impose tougher sanctions on Russia". Reuters. May 16, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014.
  9. "Ukraine's interim foreign minister advocates tougher Russia sanctions". Deutsche Welle. May 17, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014.
  10. "Ukraine expects EU Council decision to switch to 2nd phase of visa liberalization on June 23 – Deschytsia". June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 15, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  11. "Міністр Дещиця: "Путін х...ло! Ла-ла-ла"". YouTube. YouTube. June 14, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  12. Shaun Walker (June 15, 2014). "Ukraine minister's abusive remarks about Putin spark diplomatic row". The Guardian. Moscow: theguardian.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  13. Ambassador to Germany Klimkin may become Ukraine's foreign minister, Ukrinform (19 June 2014)
  14. Ukraine president gets parliament boost for peace plan, AFP news agency (19 June 2014)
  15. Poroshenko appoints Deschytsia ambassador to Poland, Shamshur ambassador to France, Interfax-Ukraine (13.10.2014)
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