The ambassador stressed that he was very pleased with his appointment to Kiev. “My task is to improve all aspects of our cooperation. We want to see Ukraine in Euro-Atlantic structures,” John Herbst stated. He also stressed that the United States is interested in free and fair presidential elections in Ukraine and welcomed the decision of the country’s leadership to send Ukrainian troops to Iraq.
The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, John Edward Herbst, arrived in our country last Saturday. He is accompanied by his wife and three of his five children. Herbst previously served as U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan, holding that position since October 2000. Before his appointment as ambassador to Uzbekistan, Herbst served as U.S. consul general in Jerusalem, was the first deputy ambassador at large, director of the office for independent states and commonwealth, and director for regional affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. John Herbst also worked as a political adviser at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and at the embassies in Moscow and Saudi Arabia.
John Edward Herbst was born on August 12, 1952, in Rockville Centre, New York. He received a bachelor’s degree in diplomacy from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1974 and a master’s degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1978. He also studied at the Bologna Center of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Herbst’s diplomatic career began in 1979.
The new American ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst, is fluent in Russian and also has a working knowledge of Arabic.