In a move that should alarm anyone invested in Ukraine’s future, President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed former defense minister and currently secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC), Rustem Umerov, to lead Ukraine’s delegation to the United States for critical negotiations, replacing Andriy Yermak as the head of the team.

At a moment when Ukraine’s territorial integrity, security guarantees, and very survival hang in the balance, Zelensky has chosen not to entrust this historic responsibility to one of Ukraine’s numerous experienced and credible diplomats. Instead, in the same troubling pattern as before, he’s entrusted a former business associate of Yermak – whom they appointed to high-ranking positions and who is also currently embroiled in the country’s wartime corruption scandals – with this delicate task.

This decision represents a troubling prioritization of personal loyalty over professional competence at precisely the moment when Ukraine can least afford such indulgence.

The choice of Umerov is particularly bewildering given the cloud of corruption allegations currently surrounding Yermak and his associates and others dating from Umerov’s tenure as minister of defense. In September, moreover, the Anti-Corruption Action Center published a report stating that Umerov’s family owned eight luxury properties in the US, but that he had only declared one of them. Not satisfied with his explanations, it has called for further investigation

In short, Umerov remains entangled in a web of cronyism that undermines Ukraine’s credibility on the international stage.

Is this the face Ukraine wants to present during the most consequential negotiations in its modern history? When diplomats sit across from American officials – and potentially Russian representatives – should they be led by someone who may need to answer corruption charges?

Effective diplomacy requires trust, credibility, and moral authority. Umerov’s predicament compromises all three. Ukraine has diplomatic talent of genuine international caliber, but for some reason Zelensky has systematically sidelined or dismissed it.

Are we to believe that Umerov has better credentials to lead such a critical delegation than former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who, for some reason, was dropped in September 2024 after several years of effective work at his post? And why is the current foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha, not heading the team, or even in it?

What exactly are top diplomats, including foreign ministers, for, if not to lead their country’s most important diplomatic missions?

Former Foreign Minister Pavlo Klymkin, who navigated Ukraine through brutal diplomatic challenges from 2014 to 2019, now comments from the sidelines. Vadym Prystaiko, who served as foreign minister and UK ambassador, was fired in 2023 for delicately, but publicly, criticizing Zelensky’s “unhealthy sarcasm,” which had raised eyebrows in London.

Consider Serhiy Kyslytsia, who served as Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN from 2020 to 2024. The diplomat became one of Ukraine’s most recognizable and effective voices on the world stage, delivering powerful speeches at the UN Security Council that rallied international opinion against Russian aggression.

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR), is included in the team but not leading it. Budanov has earned international respect for his strategic acumen, his accurate assessments of Russian capabilities and intentions, and his credibility with Western intelligence services. If Zelensky felt compelled to choose someone from the security establishment rather than the diplomatic corps, Budanov would have been a far more defensible choice than Umerov.

Ukraine has a Ministry of Foreign Affairs staffed with career diplomats who have spent decades mastering the art of negotiation, building relationships with foreign counterparts, and representing Ukrainian interests abroad. Yet time and again, Zelensky has bypassed these professionals in favor of personal confidants and political loyalists.

This is straight out of the Trump playbook: appoint your real estate buddy as peace envoy instead of actual diplomats. Steve Witkoff – a developer and Trump’s golfing partner with zero diplomatic experience – will negotiate Ukraine’s future alongside Umerov. Both leaders facing existential diplomatic challenges have chosen cronies over professionals.

Both Ukraine and the United States must do better. Professional diplomacy exists for a reason. The foreign service, with its institutional memory, specialized expertise, and commitment to national interest over personal loyalty, represents one of the most important tools any nation possesses. Sidelining career diplomats in favor of presidential favorites is not just poor governance; in circumstances like these, it borders on national self-sabotage.

The world is watching the current US-Ukrainian negotiations with intense interest. By choosing Umerov over Kyslytsia, Budanov, or the likes of Prystaiko, Klimkin, or even Ukraine’s impressive representative in the UN, Andriy Melnyk, Zelensky is not ensuring that he and Ukraine’s negotiators are at their best.

For the moment demands nothing less than excellence. And not only in ensuring the best quality of the country’s representatives and negotiators, but also of those managing the country’s domestic affairs, especially its security and economy, and curbing corruption.

It is not too late for President Zelensky to reconsider his approach and elevate professionalism and competence over personal connections and favor. Ukraine’s future depends on it.

And the leadership’s credibility at home and abroad is already at stake.