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U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker resigns

In this image, Kurt speaks at a podium between two flags.
Volker speaks in Kiev on July 27, 2019. Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker resigned on Friday, 1 day after the whistleblower report on President Trump and Ukraine was released, Arizona State University's student newspaper first reported and outlets including CNN confirm.

Why it matters: The whistleblower at the heart of a controversy over Trump and Ukraine said that Volker, along with U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland, met with Ukrainian officials a day after Trump's July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the whistleblower, Volker and Sondland provided Ukrainian officials with advice on how to "navigate" Trump's demands.

  • Volker is scheduled for a deposition on Oct.3 as part of the House impeachment inquiry and committee investigations into whether Trump jeopardized national security by pressuring Ukraine's president to investigate political rival Joe Biden.
  • Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson found the whistleblower complaint to be credible.

Volker was appointed in 2017 to help resolve the war against Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s east. He also directs the McCain Institute, a think tank on Arizona State’s campus.

Whistleblower complaint