George P. Kent is an American diplomat. He is ambassador to Estonia since February 21, 2023. George Kent served as deputy assistant secretary of state for the European and Eurasian Affairs from 2018 to 2021. As a

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

officer, his early service has included assignments in the U.S. diplomatic missions to Poland, Thailand and Uzbekistan. In 2004, he was assigned to serve as deputy political counselor 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 ...

, Ukraine, and was deputy chief of mission in Kyiv from 2015 to 2018. On October 15, 2019, Kent gave a deposition in the House impeachment inquiry of President Trump. He appeared again before the

House Intelligence Committee The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committ ...

in a public hearing alongside Ambassador Bill Taylor, the U.S. ''chargé d'affaires ad interim'' to Ukraine.

Education

Kent graduated from high school in 1985 at

Porter-Gaud School The Porter-Gaud School is an Independent school, independent Mixed-sex education, coeducational college preparatory day school in Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Porter-Gaud has an enrollment of about ...

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. He graduated in 1989 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Russian History & Literature from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He then earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from the

School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in 1992. Kent later graduated with a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in national resource strategy from the

Industrial College of the Armed Forces The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University. It was renamed on September 6, 20 ...

of the

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

in 2012.

Career

Kent has been a member of the

since 1992. He speaks

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, and

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

, as well as some

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. He has worked as a U.S. Foreign Service officer in Ukraine, Poland, Thailand and Uzbekistan. From 1995 to 1997, he was posted in Warsaw, Poland, as an economics officer dealing with trade, environmental, and counter-narcotics issues.

Ukraine appointments

Kent was later assigned to serve as deputy political counselor in

, Ukraine, from 2004 to 2007, which included the time period of the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...

. From 2012 to 2014, Kent served as director of the

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is an agency that reports to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights within the Department of State. Under the umbrella of its general mis ...

. He served as a senior anti-corruption coordinator in the European bureau in 2014–2015, and as deputy chief of mission in Kyiv from 2015 to 2018. On September 4, 2018, he was appointed to the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

for European and Eurasian Affairs and held this position until September 3, 2021. On October 15, 2019, Kent gave a deposition in the House impeachment inquiry of President Trump, serving as a key witness on whether

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

used a campaign of disinformation to undermine the former ambassador to Ukraine,

Marie Yovanovitch Marie Louise "Masha" Yovanovitch (born November 11, 1958) is a Canadian-American former diplomat and retired senior member of the United States Foreign Service. She served in multiple State Department posts, including Senior Advisor to the Unde ...

. Kent's warnings regarding the disinformation campaign are documented in State Department emails submitted to Congress by the organization's inspector general. Kent protested a "fake news smear" directed at Ambassador Yovanovitch by media commentators supportive of President Trump. He also criticized the Ukrainian prosecutor undermining Yovanovitch, calling the disinformation "complete poppycock." On November 13, 2019, along with Ambassador Bill Taylor, Kent gave public testimony to the House Intelligence Committee during the first public hearing. While serving as interim

Charge d'affaires Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

at the

Embassy of the United States, Kyiv The Embassy of the United States of America in Kyiv is the diplomatic mission of the United States to Ukraine. History The United States recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 26, 1991, and opened an embassy in its capital, Kyiv, on ...

during the summer of 2021, Kent embarked on a press tour of local Ukrainian media. In one interview, Kent opined that the differences between Russia and Ukraine are distilled in the paintings of

Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin (russian: Илья Ефимович Репин, translit=Il'ya Yefimovich Repin, p=ˈrʲepʲɪn); fi, Ilja Jefimovitš Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is now Ukraine. He became one of the ...

. '' Burlaki'', per Kent, shows the "servile and slavish character of the people" in the country, however ''

Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks ''Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks'' is a painting by Ilya Repin. It is also known as ''Cossacks of Saporog Are Drafting a Manifesto'' and in Russian, (russian: Запорожцы пишут письмо турецкому султану, Zap ...

'' illustrates the "dignity and imbued liberty of Ukraine."

U.S. Ambassador to Estonia

On September 2, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Kent serve as the next ambassador to

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. His nomination was sent to the Senate on September 8, 2022. On November 29, 2022, hearings on his nomination were held before the

Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid pro ...

. On December 7, 2022, the committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate. On December 13, 2022, his nomination was confirmed in the Senate by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. Kent presented his credentials to Estonian President

Alar Karis Alar Karis (; born 26 March 1958) is an Estonian Molecular genetics, molecular geneticist, Developmental biology, developmental biologist, civil servant and politician who, since 11 October 2021, has served as the sixth President of Estonia. P ...

on February 21, 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, George P. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American diplomats 21st-century American diplomats Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy alumni Harvard University alumni Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni United States Department of State officials United States Foreign Service personnel Ambassadors of the United States to Estonia