Kostyantyn Gryshchenko

Kostyantyn Gryshchenko built his diplomatic career around arms control and international security. After study at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, he worked at the United Nations and in Soviet consular and disarmament posts. In independent Ukraine he headed arms control offices, became deputy foreign minister, and led delegations negotiating borders with neighboring states. Before Washington he represented Ukraine in the Benelux countries and at NATO. ¹

As ambassador in Washington from 2000 to 2003, Gryshchenko sought sustained American engagement beyond individual crises. In a 2002 interview, he pressed for fulfillment of international commitments following Chornobyl's closure and better access to American markets. He also discussed the tensions caused by copyright piracy and called for ending the Jackson–Vanik trade restrictions on Ukraine. ²

Gryshchenko later served twice as foreign minister, in 2003–2005 and 2010–2012, and as ambassador to Russia. He was deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014, after earlier service in the leadership of the National Security and Defense Council. ³