The Biden Administration intends to Fully Staff the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine by this summer, according to a State Department Cable.
It’s a small part of a wide-ranging Document, and the Ground conditions will ultimately determine if the Goal can be achieved.
The Embassy was closed for roughly Three months before resuming Operations in May, 2022. According to the Jan. 25th “sensitive but unclassified” Cable, the Embassy now has a “drastically reduced staff that now includes up to 106 U.S. personnel and 250 local staff working in Kyiv.”
But more than Half the U.S. “Direct Hires”, a term that typically doesn’t cover Contractors, are dedicated to Security, leaving a small core group to advance Diplomacy, manage Foreign Assistance programs, and oversee Operations.
Additional Embassy Staffers are in Poland or working remotely elsewhere beyond Kyiv.
“One of our top priorities is to ensure we maintain the flexibility to increase our footprint in Kyiv or downgrade our posture as conditions dictate,” the Cable says. The Internal Document was signed by the U.S. Ambassador in Kyiv, Bridget Brink, and sent to the Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Office, among others. It did Not List the Pre-War Embassy Staffing numbers. The State Department generally does Not Release such figures.
A Spokesperson for the Department said in a Statement, that Blinken “has championed the effort to have our team safely return to Kyiv at the earliest possible date. We do not comment on our internal staffing posture, but we continue to work toward strengthening our diplomatic presence in Kyiv to reinforce our strong partnership with Ukraine in its time of need.”
William Taylor, a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, said that the Plan indicates the Administration has “concluded that the need for more staff justifies the risks of operating in a war zone.”
After all, he noted: “More assistance, military and civilian, is coming in and must be coordinated. More senior officials visit. And more. This all requires embassy staff.” He pointed out, however, “more staff requires more security.”
The Cable describes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as prioritizing Anti-Corruption efforts, but it Stresses that Oversight of U.S. Aid remains a Top Embassy priority. “We are transparent with the [government of Ukraine] that a scandal or misstep with U.S. assistance could jeopardize future aid,” the Cable states.
On Security Assistance, the Cable states that “air defense equipment remains Ukraine’s top current need, followed by additional artillery, infantry fighting vehicles and tanks.” As of the Date of the Cable, “we have no evidence of a purposeful or illicit diversion of military equipment.”
Of course, the U.S. has said it will provide M1 Abrams Tanks in Coordination with Germany's Authorizing the Transfer of Leopard II tanks to Ukraine.
And the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Partners, have helped launch Two Civil Society Coalitions, composed of Dozens of Organizations, that already have Documented more than 20,000 alleged War Crimes and Human Rights Abuses by Russia.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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