Andrii Bohdanovych Deshchytsia (; born 22 September 1965) is a Ukrainian

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and politician. From February to June 2014 Deshchytsia was Acting Foreign minister of Ukraine. Deshchytsia was from October 2014 to June 2022 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to

Republic of Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

.Zelensky appoints Zvarych as Ukraine's ambassador to Poland

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. The capital city, capital of the oblast is the city of Lviv. The current population is History Name The region is named ...

. His father, Bohdan Deshchytsia, worked as a postmaster in Sokal, and in the 1990s held the first rallies for Ukraine here. His mother worked as a

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and

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. In 1989, he graduated from Ivan Franko Lviv National University. Then, in 1995, he graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from the Department of History of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

(

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

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). Deshchytsia became a Candidate of Political Science after 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. He is fluent in Ukrainian, English,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, and Polish.

Professional career

Early positions

From 1996 to 1999, Andrii Deshchytsia served as press Secretary, First Secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine to the Republic of Poland. In 1999–2001, he was a Senior Coordinator of PAUCI (Polish-American-Ukrainian Cooperation Initiative). From 2001 to 2004, he took a position of a counselor of the Embassy of Ukraine to the Republic of

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and then as Counselor and Minister-Counselor of the Embassy of Ukraine to the Republic of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

until 2006. In 2006–2007, Deshchytsia was

Spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. From 2008 to 2012, he served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of

to the Republic of

and

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, while living in Finland. From 2012 to February 2014, Andrii Deshchytsia was

Ambassador-at-Large An ambassador-at-large is a diplomat, a secretary of state, secretary, or a minister (government), minister of the highest rank who is accredited to represent a country and its people internationally. Unlike an ambassador-in-residence, who is us ...

. During that time, from January–December 2013, he was Special Representative of

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

Chairperson-in-Office for Conflict Resolution.

As Ukrainian Foreign Minister

On 27 February 2014 he was appointed Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

UN Resolution on Territorial integrity of Ukraine

On 27 March 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

Secretary Kerry Chats With Ukrainian Foreign Minister Deshchytsia Before Meeting With Russians

On 17 April 2014, Deshchytsia negotiated with

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

Catherine Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland (born 20 March 1956) is a Labour Party (UK), British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of th ...

, and Sergei Lavrov at a quadrilateral meeting in

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in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to the war and humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian aggression in Ukraine. The resulting Geneva Statement on Ukraine laid the 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

accused Russia of failing to adhere to Geneva commitments by orchestrating armed resistance in eastern Ukraine. U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

stated that Vladimir Putin has 'not lifted a finger to ease tensions. President of the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

Herman Van Rompuy acknowledged that Russia has not lived up to its Geneva commitments.

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. Deshchytsia labeled pro-Russian separatists as "terrorists".

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".

Incident near the Russian Embassy

Wszyscy jestesmy Ukraincami - Andrii Deshchytsia

On 14 June 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 khuilo!, yes," he said. However, Geoffrey Pyatt, the US ambassador to Ukraine, wrote on

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that the minister had been "seeking to defuse a dangerous situation", adding that Deshchytsia is "a skilled diplomat and credit to Ukraine". On 19 June 2014, with the recent Presidential change, Deschytsia was replaced with Pavlo Klimkin, the former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany.Ambassador to Germany Klimkin may become Ukraine's foreign minister

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine (), or Ukrinform (), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of Ukraine. It was founded in 1918 during the Ukrainian War of Independence Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

appointed Deshchytsia Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland. President

Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

dismissed Deshchytsia as Ukraine's ambassador to Poland on 8 February 2022.

Diplomatic rank

* Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of

References

External links

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of UkraineEngagement and resolve required to achieve concrete results, Co-Chairs of Geneva International Discussions tell OSCE Permanent Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deshchytsia, Andrii 1965 births Living people People from Lviv Oblast University of Lviv alumni University of Alberta alumni Ambassadors of Ukraine to Finland Ambassadors of Ukraine to Iceland Ambassadors of Ukraine to Poland Ministers of foreign affairs of Ukraine Spokespersons of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine)