Kaimo Kuusk (born 5 December 1975), is an Estonian diplomat and foreign intelligence officer. Since 11 July 2019, he has been the Estonian ambassador to Ukraine.

Early life and education

Kaimo Kuusk was born in

Abja-Paluoja Abja-Paluoja is a town in Mulgi Parish, Viljandi County, in southern Estonia. Before 2017, it was the administrative centre of Abja Parish. Abja-Paluoja was first mentioned in 1505. Abja-Paluoja gained town rights in 1993 and became a sovereign ...

. He attended secondary school at the

Hugo Treffner Gymnasium Hugo Treffner Gymnasium ( et, Hugo Treffneri Gümnaasium; abbreviated as HTG) is a secondary school in Tartu, Estonia with special emphasis on science education. Founded by Hugo Treffner, it was the only large secondary school in 19th-century Est ...

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

. He is a 1998 graduate of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

Career

Kuusk began his career employed at the

Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (EFIS; et, Välisluureamet, ''VLA'') is the foreign intelligence service of the Republic of Estonia. The Foreign Intelligence Service coordinates with all Estonian intelligence functions, collects intell ...

( et, Välisluureamet, ''VLA''). He was head of the department from 1998 until 2008, and Deputy Director General from 2008 until 2019. In 2019, he was appointed the Advisor of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Bureau of the

Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia ( et, Eesti Vabariigi Välisministeerium) is a Cabinet-level governmental agency in Estonia in charge of conducting and designing Estonian Foreign policy. History The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of E ...

( et, Eesti Vabariigi Välisministeerium). On 11 July 2019, he was appointed as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Estonia to Ukraine, succeeding Gert Antsu. He arrived in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

for his position on 1 August, and on 11 September 2019, he presented

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

his credentials and reaffirmed Estonia's continued support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Personal life

Kuusk played football for

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

football club FC Toompea, retiring in 2014.

Acknowledgement

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star ( et, Valgetähe teenetemärk; french: Ordre de l'Etoile Blanche) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic ...

, V Class (2006) *Cross of Merit, I Class (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuusk, Kaimo 1975 births Living people Estonian diplomats Ambassadors of Estonia to Ukraine Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 5th Class Hugo Treffner Gymnasium alumni University of Tartu alumni People from Abja-Paluoja