The General Who Doesn’t Want to Be an Ambassador: Why Palisa Flees the President’s Office for the Front

This is a story about a general who knows Trump. Maybe that is exactly why he does not want to go.

Pavlo Palisa has a rare profile: a combat officer, former deputy head of the President’s Office, commander of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade “Kholodnyi Yar.” He rose from senior lieutenant to brigadier general, fought near Ilovaisk, Bakhmut, and in the Kharkiv region. His name was floated for the Washington post as a “technical” candidate — someone with direct access to the president, a deep understanding of the army, and the ability to speak the same language as U.S. military commanders.

But Palisa said no. And asked to go back to his brigade.

The official version is “I want to fight, not sit in an office.” It is a nice, patriotic line — hard to argue with. But look at the context.

The position of Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States has been vacant since August 2026. The previous envoy, Oksana Markarova, resigned after three years. Since then, the President’s Office has been scrambling for a replacement. The list of candidates who have either refused or are “under discussion” reads like a roster of people who do not want to become scapegoats.

First: Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy. The person in charge of trade wars, sanctions, and economic diplomacy. On paper, an ideal fit. But according to sources, she is not eager to go. Why? Because she would have to defend the “diesel deal” — the controversial arrangement under which Ukraine bought fuel from traders linked to the Russian market, sparking a scandal in Washington.

Second: Dmytro Kuleba, former Minister of Foreign Affairs. The man who was already the face of Ukrainian diplomacy on the world stage. Yet Kuleba, too, seems in no hurry. Perhaps because he knows: being ambassador to the U.S. today means being a clown in a circus, entertaining the audience while Trump cuts his own deal with Putin on a “peace plan” that leaves Ukraine out.

And third: Pavlo Palisa. The general who knows Trump personally — they met during the U.S. president’s visit to Kyiv. And that very fact, ironically, may have sealed his decision. Because Palisa, unlike civilian diplomats, knows exactly what a “firing squad” looks like. He has seen American congressmen tear into Ukrainian officials at hearings. He has heard Trump call Zelenskyy “the greatest salesman on earth.” And he realized: going there means apologizing every day for things beyond your control.

What exactly would the new ambassador have to apologize for? First, the diesel deal. Second, the information war that Ukraine is losing in the West. Russian propaganda is outperforming Ukrainian diplomacy: the Kremlin has convinced half of Republican voters that Ukraine is a corrupt country undeserving of aid. Third, the fact that Trump has already reached an understanding with Putin to “freeze” the war — and the Ukrainian ambassador would have to explain why that is bad, even though Kyiv never publicly agreed.

Palisa chose the trench. That is not cowardice; it is the rational decision of a man who knows he can change things on his patch of front, save soldiers’ lives, kill the enemy. In Washington, he would be powerless.

But what does this say about the state of Ukrainian diplomacy? That the most experienced people are turning down the most important job — a symptom of deep crisis. The embassy in Washington is not just a representation. It is the main channel of communication with the country that supplies weapons, money, and intelligence. If no suitable candidate can be found, it means the leadership does not understand what kind of person the post requires. Or it does understand, but that person does not want the responsibility.

Of course, a “technical” diplomat could be appointed — someone who does not know Trump, has no combat experience, and just follows orders. But then why have an ambassador at all? There is email, after all.

Palisa has made his choice. He is returning to his brigade, where his men are waiting. Who will go to Washington? That is a question the President’s Office still cannot answer. And while it remains unanswered, Trump is making deals with Putin, and the diesel deal hangs around the neck of Ukrainian diplomacy like a millstone.

Maybe the next candidate has already been found. But if he, too, refuses, they may have to appoint someone who has no choice. For instance, Zelenskyy himself. He, too, knows Trump. Even better than Palisa does.