Who Is Rustem Umerov? Zelenskyy's Crimea-Born Negotiator With Russia Now Ukraine's Foreign Spy Chief

Rustem Umerov, the Crimea‑born negotiator who has led Ukraine's peace talks with Russia, has been appointed head of the country's Foreign Intelligence Service by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Presidential decrees published on the official website confirm that Umerov will lead the agency responsible for gathering intelligence abroad and reporting directly to the president.

The appointment forms part of a wider security reshuffle in Kyiv that also saw Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko become secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine.

The same decrees show that Umerov resigned from his council post and was simultaneously named head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, while acting intelligence chief Oleh Luhovskyi was relieved of his temporary duties.

Rustem Umerov as Foreign Spy Chief

Zelenskyy has tasked Rustem Umerov with remaining in charge of peace talks while leading the Foreign Intelligence Service. The agency said this keeps him at the centre of efforts to secure a diplomatic end to Russia's full‑scale invasion while overseeing intelligence operations that inform those talks.

Umerov oversees negotiations on drone deals and other advanced military technology. According to the news agency, his role combines responsibility for intelligence collection with diplomacy that relies on that information to shape Ukraine's military and security decisions.

The National Security and Defence Council's official biography states that Umerov was born in deportation in Soviet Uzbekistan in 1982 and moved to Crimea as a child when Crimean Tatars were allowed to return. The council records that he became an adviser to Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev and a delegate of the Kurultai, the community's national assembly.

Negotiator in Grain and Prisoner Deals

The same biography notes that Umerov spent years in business, holding senior positions in technology and investment companies and running his own investment firm between 2004 and 2019. It confirms that he later entered politics and was elected to Ukraine's parliament in 2019, representing a pro‑European party.

Since 2020, Umerov has served on a government task force focused on ending Russia's occupation of Crimea. They describe him as a negotiator who joined the Ukrainian team that held talks with Russia one month after the full‑scale invasion began in February 2022.

France 24, covering the Black Sea grain deal, said Umerov took part in United Nations‑brokered negotiations to restart Ukrainian cereal exports via the Black Sea. The outlet reported that the agreement helped unblock millions of tonnes of grain in Ukrainian ports and recounted how Umerov negotiated for more than 36 hours with Russian representatives to secure the arrangement.

Umerov was also involved in prisoner exchange talks, including deals that led to the release of Ukrainian soldiers captured in battles such as the fighting around Mariupol. Their coverage links his name to several wartime agreements that combined diplomatic and humanitarian aims.

From Defence Minister to Intelligence Chief

The National Security and Defence Council profile confirms that Ukraine's parliament approved Umerov's appointment as defence minister in 2023 after Zelenskyy proposed him to replace Oleksii Reznikov. It records that he served as defence minister from 2023 until July 2025, when he was appointed council secretary.

On 3 August 2026, decrees posted on the president's official website show that Umerov resigned as council secretary and was appointed head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

In the same documents, Zelenskyy named Ihor Klymenko as the new council secretary and removed acting intelligence chief Oleh Luhovskyi from his interim role.

Placing Umerov at the head of foreign intelligence is part of an ongoing reshuffle of Ukraine's security leadership, which has also involved changes at the Defence Ministry and military intelligence.

The agency described the appointment as a way to keep wartime diplomacy, intelligence gathering and defence planning under closely coordinated civilian oversight.

Umerov's identity as a member of the Crimean Tatar community is central to his public role and to Ukraine's pledge to regain Crimea. Their profiles state that his background and negotiating record have made him a prominent figure in Ukrainian politics and a regular subject of international reporting on the conflict.