Former Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oksana Markarova will be a successful professional ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

"Kostiantyn Ivanovych himself [Gryschenko, ex-head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, ex-ambassador of Ukraine to the United States] once taught me and told me: Dmytro, only internal diplomacy is worse than diplomacy. In other words, the one who can do internal diplomacy, can also be a diplomat. These are his words, which he once taught me, for which I am very grateful to him. I am convinced that Oksana Markarova, former Minister of Finance, will be a successful professional Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States," Kuleba said in an interview with The Day newspaper.

He said that perhaps some diplomats are dramatic about this, since they served as head of the diplomatic department in Washington. "But I want us not to fall into hypocrisy. You can criticize this choice. But the question is different. Nobody, except for a small part of the Ukrainian diplomatic community, headed by Kostiantyn Ivanovych, to whom I really have warm feelings and respect, considers Markarova an unworthy candidate for this position," the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.

"Yes, she is a former member of the government. But who should be appointed ambassador to the United States? And why can't this be a person who understands America very well, because she interacted with the United States and has a successful experience of interaction? A finance Minister cannot but be a diplomat by definition. I said this right away," Kuleba said.