President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he intends to appoint Rustem Umerov as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service. He said this at a meeting with ambassadors in Kyiv on August 3, an LB correspondent reports.
In the role, Umerov will oversee Ukraine's Drone Deals initiative. Agreements have already been concluded with nine countries, while negotiations are under way with another 15.
The agreements provide for the export of Ukrainian-made drones and the integration of Ukrainian drone technologies into the defence systems of partner countries.
"Umerov will coordinate this work, not just the Middle East," Suspilne quoted Zelenskyy as saying.
Umerov will also continue to oversee negotiations with the United States and other diplomatic matters.
A former lawmaker from the Holos party, Umerov later headed the State Property Fund of Ukraine before becoming the country's second defence minister during Russia's full-scale invasion, succeeding Oleksii Reznikov. He served as defence minister from 6 September 2023 until 17 July 2025, after which he became secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) and effectively the president's national security adviser. He took part in negotiations with the United States and Russia and, following Andriy Yermak's resignation, led Ukraine's negotiating team.
Last year, Rustem Umerov was also considered for the post of Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, although the position ultimately went to Olha Stefanishyna.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Ihor Klymenko as the new NSDC secretary while offering Umerov a new role, the details of which were not disclosed at the time. The president later said Umerov would be responsible for communication with partners, negotiations, advancing security cooperation, strengthening ties between Ukraine's intelligence community and those of partner countries, and implementing initiatives such as Drone Deals and Ukraine's Freya anti-ballistic programme.
Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) has been without a permanent chief since February, when Oleh Ivashchenko was appointed head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU). The SZRU is Ukraine's foreign intelligence agency, responsible for providing the country's leadership with comprehensive intelligence to secure advantages in key areas of national security.