President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has appointed Volodymyr Yelchenko as Ukraine's permanent representative at the United Nations.

According to president's press service, a respective decree was signed on December 9.

Yelchenko served as Ukrainian Ambassador to Russia from the summer of 2010. After Crimea became part of Russia in March 2014, he was recalled by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for consultations and has since been in Kyiv.

Congratulating Yelchenko on the new appointment, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said: "I will be glad to see Yelchenko very soon as head of the Ukrainian permanent mission to the UN. We all work together in the interests of Ukraine."

"Efficient work as part of the UN Security Council - that is our new peak. To conquer it, we are already lending new dynamic to our mission in New York. It is good that Ukraine has been lucky to have a cohort of professionals with a good understanding of the UN and capable of directing its work at every level in the interests of our state," Klimkin said, commenting on the challenges facing the country's new ambassador to the UN.

One such professional is Yelchenko, the minister said.

Yelchenko's experience as Ukrainian Ambassador to Russia will also be useful and important in his new job, Klimkin said.

"He has an excellent knowledge of the specifics of Russian diplomacy. I am convinced that this his experience will be invaluable on the UN platform, where he will need to defend Ukrainian interests when sitting at the same table with a representative of the aggressor state," the minister said.

Yelchenko is replacing Yuriy Serheyev, who represented Ukraine in the UN from 2007.

Klimkin noted Serheyev's efficient service as permanent representative. He said that a specialist of such high caliber is needed back at home, in Ukraine. "After the eight years of Serheyev's continuous service in New York, I will be glad to welcome him back to Kyiv where he will have a lot of work to do as part of our foreign-policy team," the minister said.