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Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor was instructed by a top aide to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to hand over responsibilities for his post just days before Pompeo planned to visit the Ukrainian capital, according to a person familiar with the situation.
That timing countered earlier suggestions that Taylor’s precise departure date was predetermined, and will allow Pompeo to avoid meeting or being photographed with an ambassador who has drawn President Trump’s ire for his testimony in the congressional impeachment inquiry, according to this person and to Ukrainian officials.
Taylor testified in October in a congressional deposition and in November in an open hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry that he and other officials were aware of efforts by key Trump officials to press the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate Democrat Joe Biden and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Biden has defended his work in Ukraine, and U.S. intelligence assessments have concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
Taylor was named as the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine after Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was recalled from her post in Ukraine in May. Under the terms of the federal Vacancies Act, he could have retained his position in Kyiv until Jan. 8, and can serve longer in other capacities under his contract with the State Department.
But Ulrich Brechbuhl, a key aide to Pompeo who serves as State Department counselor, informed Taylor on Dec. 11 that Pompeo had instructed him to hand over his responsibilities in Kyiv on Jan. 1, according to the person familiar with the situation. Taylor is planning to leave the country on Jan. 2, and had understood that Pompeo wanted to avoid being photographed with him while visiting Ukraine, the person familiar with the situation said.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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