Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainian defense minister leading Kyivs delegation at peace talks with Russia on Friday, is hailed by his coworkers as a knowledgeable and practical negotiator.The 43-year-old former business owner ended up being defense minister in 2023, a year and a half into Russias intrusion, and has spearheaded some of Kyivs a lot of sensitive wartime diplomacy with both Russia and the West.He has actually also been involved in scandals during his period, accused of an absence of transparency and the topic of a probe into supposed abuse of power.Still, Umerov is one of only a handful of Ukrainians with experience brokering deals including Moscow during the war.He also has the ear of Andriy Yermak, the powerful head of Ukraines presidential office.President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Umerov would lead a slimmed-down Ukrainian group at talks in Istanbul.Kyiv has few expectations of a development, specifically after Russian President Vladimir Putin decreased to come and dispatched a relatively low-level delegation.After seeing him in talks with U.S.
officials in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, Pavlo Palisa, a highly regarded former army leader and deputy head of Zelenskys office, hailed Umerovs working out prowess.
I am extremely satisfied with his way of conversing with partners.
His perfect English and eastern beauty work wonders, Palisa said in an interview released in April.Umerov has highlighted his unflappability.
Its difficult to put pressure on me, he said in 2022.
Crimean rootsUmerov is a popular member of the Crimean Tatars, a Muslim ethnic group from the Russian-annexed Black Sea peninsula that Kyiv says it will never ever quit hopes of regaining.His election as defense minister in 2023 was called a lovely political gesture by Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to Yermak.It was a sign that there will be no compromise on Crimea, he told AFP.Umerov was born in 1982 in Soviet Uzbekistan, where his family had actually been deported under Josef Stalin.He moved to Crimea as a kid when the Crimean Tatars, who comprise some 12-15% of Crimeas population, were enabled to return.Before being elected an MP in 2019 with a pro-European party, he had a background in organization and ran an investment company.Announcing that he would lead the Ukrainian delegation, Zelensky highlighted Umerovs fluency in English and Turkish along with Ukrainian and Russian.Like Russias top negotiator, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, Umerov became part of the failed 2022 talks in between Russia and Ukraine.But he has performed effective indirect diplomacy with the Russians.He took part in speak with establish the UN and Turkish-brokered Black Sea grain deal, the most significant agreement including both sides struck since Russia invaded.Although Russia deserted it after a year, the effort assisted Ukraine begin exporting millions of tons of grain deliveries it handled to boost after the deal broke down.Umerov also played a crucial function in a significant 2022 detainee exchange in which Russia released several top leaders who protected the besieged port city of Mariupol.Pragmatist, scandalsUmerov is charismatic and a good communicator who is rapidly liked by people around him, Leshchenko stated.
He knows how to get outcomes with few resources, thanks to his individual contacts, he added.However, last September, three prominent professionals accused him of presiding over a ministry of mayhem and criticized for a lack of transparency over procurement, consisting of associated to Western military support.Ukraines anti-corruption guard dog in January revealed it was examining Umerov for supposed abuse of power after he reversed a procurement decision.He rejected the allegations and said he was attempting to restore privacy to delicate state orders.Ukraines military has been blighted by corruption amid a massive influx of cash to the defense sector during the war.