Étienne de Poncins

His Excellency
Etienne de Poncins
de Poncins with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy
French Ambassador to Ukraine
Incumbent
Assumed office
August 2019
PresidentEmmanuel Macron
Preceded byIsabelle Dumont
Personal details
Born (1964-03-06) 6 March 1964 (age 60)
Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Étienne de Poncins (born 6 March 1964) is a French diplomat, serving since 2019 as the Ambassador of France to Ukraine.[1]

De Poncins was noted as one of the last-remaining senior diplomats in Ukraine (having re-located to Lviv) amidst the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine; engaged in distributing French aid to Ukraine. De Poncins told Politico that "you are here in the difficult moments and hours. I would have felt very bad if I had left."[2] De Poncins returned to Kyiv and re-opened the French embassy in the capital on 15 April.[3]

Education and career

De Poncins graduated from Sciences Po and École nationale d'administration and also has a degree in history from the University of Paris.

He has served in various posting as French Ambassador; firstly to Bulgaria (2007–2010) and then to Kenya (2010–2013) and simultaneously Somalia.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ "Etienne de Poncins - Who's Who". www.whoswho.fr.
  2. ^ De La Baume, Maïa (1 April 2022). "'Our man in Kyiv': How war has flipped diplomats' day job". Politico Europe. Brussels. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  3. ^ Fitzpatrick, Michael (18 April 2022). "France reopens embassy in Kyiv but warns its nationals to stay away". Radio France Internationale. Paris. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Etienne de Poncins | Speakers | Kyiv International Economic Forum". forumkyiv.org.
  5. ^ Boiteau, Victor (28 February 2022). "Guerre en Ukraine: Etienne de Poncins, l'ambassadeur «chevronné» contraint de se délocaliser à Lviv". Libération (in French). Paris. Retrieved 18 April 2022.