Zelensky appoints Umerov as NSDC secretary

Former Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov is appointed Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. Decree №496/2025 published on July 18 on the website of the Presidential Office.

By Decree №495/2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Oleksandr Lytvynenko, , who had previously served as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

ADDED at 11:30 a.m.. Zelenskyy discussed with Umerov the work of the NSDC and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff, as well as personal tasks in the defense and negotiation spheres.

The first thing to do is to continue working with allies on arms agreements.

"We have to fully implement every agreement with our partners on arms supplies, as well as new special agreements on joint production and construction of factories on the territory of partners," the president said .

He also instructed to analyze the status of implementation of the NSDC and the NSDC's decisions and to implement what was delayed. In addition, the format of the technological rate will be "significantly strengthened".

"We need clear coordination and full implementation of decisions in the defense and security sector of Ukraine," Zelensky emphasized.

The third thing the President emphasized was the intensification of the negotiations. The agreements reached at the second meeting are still being implemented, but "more dynamics is needed.".

on July 10, during a conversation with journalists, the president confirmed that he was considering Umerov for the post of ambassador to the United States instead of Oksana Markarova.

Former Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in a commentary to LIGA.net called Umerov "the strongest candidate" for the post. And MP Roman Kostenko suggested that Zelenskiy could have already agreed on his candidacy with US President Donald Trump.

However, an interlocutor of LIGA.net in the Presidential Office on July 17 said that the ambassador to the United States will not be Umerov, but Olga Stefanishyna. He explained that Umerov will be engaged in negotiations without being tied to a specific capital.

• As Bloomberg reported, Zelenskiy was considering four candidates for the post of ambassador to the United States:: Denys Shmyhal, Olga Stefanishyna, Rustem Umerov, and Herman Galushchenko.
• On July 16, Umerov summed up two years as defense minister. The main thing, he said, is that he managed to preserve the army. Instead of him, the Defense Ministry was headed by former Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.