Geoffrey R. Pyatt
Geoffrey R. Pyatt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Ambassador to Ukraine | |
| Assumed office August 3, 2013[1] | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | John F. Tefft |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1963[2] La Jolla, California, U.S.[2] |
| Spouse | Mary[3] |
| Children | William and Claire[3] |
| Profession | Career FSO |
Geoffrey R. Pyatt (born 1963),[2] is the current United States Ambassador to Ukraine.[1] Pyatt's U.S. State Department career landed him posts in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.[1]
Early life and education
Pyatt was born 1963 in La Jolla, an affluent neighborhood of San Diego, California.[2] Pyatt received his bachelor’s degree in political studies in 1985 at the University of California, Irvine, and a master’s degree in international relations at Yale University in 1987.[2][4]
Career
Pyatt started his diplomatic career in Honduras, from 1990 until 1992 he worked as vice-consul and economic officer in Tegucigalpa.[2] The highest position (before his current post) was deputy chief of diplomatic mission in India in 2006 and 2007.[2] After that he worked as deputy chief of U.S. mission to International Atomic Energy Agency and other international organizations in Vienna.[2] Prior to his current position Pyatt served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs from May 2010 until July 2013.[1][2]
Pyatt took the Oath of Office of United States Ambassador to Ukraine on July 30, 2013 in the Harry S Truman Building of the US State Department in Washington, D.C.[2] Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych accepted Pyatt's credentials on August 15, 2013.[1] After his appointment, Pyatt started actively studying the Ukrainian language.[2] On October 15, 2013 Pyatt attended an international conference on fighting anti-Semitism in Kiev; but could not address the audience at the event due to the United States federal government shutdown of 2013.[5] Pyatt became part of a diplomatic scandal in January 2014, when his conversation with the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State, Victoria Nuland, was apparently intercepted and uploaded to YouTube.[6]
Career: Details
Ray McGovern reports (3 March 2014; DemocracyNow):
- ... Who is Geoffrey Pyatt? Well Pyatt is one of these State Department high officials who does what he is told, and fancies himself as some kind of CIA operator -- because now the CIA doesn't do much of this stuff, so the State Department have to do it. So, who is he? He was in Vienna. What was he doing in Vienna? He was orchestrating the election of Yukiya Amano to become the head of the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, because they didn't like Baradei (they guy they tried to get rid of earlier). But they knew that Amano -- and it is clear from cables from Vienna from Pyatt, released by Wikileaks -- that Pyatt was glowing, and saying: "Amano is so happy for all our support in making him head of the IAEA, and now he has asked us for a little bit more money because he would like to fix up his office.
It is so apparent what State Department types now are doing, in a self-styled sort of covert action/political action sort of thing, to create the right results. And the IAEA is a big deal; Pyatt played a crucial role in that, and now he is doing the bidding of the likes of Victoria Nuland -- who I would describe as a neocona prima donna, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs...
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d e "Yanukovych accepts credentials from new US ambassador, discusses with him Ukrainian-US relations", Interfax-Ukraine (15 August 2013)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Welcome, Mr. Pyatt!", Den, 5 August 2013.
- ^ a b Introducing U.S. Ambassador Geoff Pyatt to Ukraine, Embassy of the United States, Kiev per YouTube (7 August 2013)
- ^ Biography, U.S. State Department
- ^ "Ambassador Pyatt decides not to speak at public events in Kyiv due to US government shutdown", Interfax-Ukraine, 15 October 2013.
- ^ "Ukraine crisis: Leaked phone call embarrasses US". BBC News. February 6, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
External links
- Official website of the US embassy in Ukraine
- Biography on the official website of the US State Department
  | This American diplomat–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |