What We Know About Keith Dayton, Trump's Nominee for US Ambassador to Ukraine Role

03 May 2020 18:34

Director of the George C. Marshall Center, Keith Dayton, speaks at the opening ceremony of the Atifete Jahjaga foundation on March 20, 2018.Week of Women / Twitter

A message on the White House's official website has revealed American President Donald Trump's intent to nominate retired Lieutenant General Keith Dayton to the post of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

A message on the White House's official website has revealed American President Donald Trump's intent to nominate 71-year-old retired Lieutenant General Keith Dayton to the post of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

Now this decision needs to be approved by the Senate.

Dayton's biography indicates that he studied history and international relations. For 40 years, he worked for the U.S. army, which he left in 2010 with the rank of Lieutenant General.

Since 2010, Dayton has been serving as the Director of the George C. Marshall Center in Garmisch, Germany. He is also the Senior United States Defense Advisor to Ukraine.

Apart from native English, Dayton can speak Russian and German.

This follows a period of four months during which Kristina Kvien acted as the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Ukraine.

Prior to that, Joseph Pennington headed the diplomatic mission for just eight days following U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch’s abrupt departure after almost three years in Ukraine. Yovanovitch also testified in the Trump impeachment case – and then declared pressure from the U.S. president and the State Department to release her.