- Vadym Prystaiko had held the position in London since 2020
After heavily criticising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s response to the British military aid, Ukrainian ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko was dismissed from his position.
While the dismissal comes after Prystaiko referred to Zelensky’s promise to thank the UK defence minister every morning as “unhealthy sarcasm,” Kyiv has not given any official reason behind the dismissal.
However, the Ukrainian government confirmed that Prystaiko has been officially removed from his position as ambassador.
Earlier this month, Ben Wallace, while speaking at the NATO summit following Zelensky’s criticism towards the military alliance for delays in making Ukraine a member, warned Ukraine that its allies were “not Amazon.”
He added that Kyiv needed to show gratitude for weapons it received in order to persuade Western politicians to give more, the BBC reported.
Wallace’s remarks had stirred anger in Kyiv and he later said his words had been “somewhat misrepresented”.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reacted by saying he had been “struck” by how much Ukraine valued the UK’s support.
“How else can we show our gratitude?” Mr Zelensky said in response to the defence minister’s comments. “We can wake up in the morning and thank the minister. Let him write to me and tell me how to thank him.”
Prystaiko addressed the Ukrainian president’s remarks last week saying that there had been a “little bit of sarcasm,” which he believed was “unhealthy”.
“We’re not expecting anybody to fight for us, we only ask for equipment,” he said, adding “Ben can call me and tell me anything he wants,” he told Sky News.
He had held the position in London since 2020, but on Friday, Zelensky announced his dismissal and stated that he was no longer Ukraine’s representative at the International Maritime Organisation in a presidential decree.
Previously, in a move that was perceived as a reshuffle, President Zelensky sacked five ambassadors at once a year ago.
Prystaiko, known for his outspoken social media presence, had become a familiar face in Germany with repeated appeals for military aid to Ukraine but was seen to have stepped out of line when he accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz of acting like a “sulky liver sausage” when the German leader was slow to take up a presidential invitation to visit Kyiv.
“This is about the most brutal war of extermination since the Nazi invasion of Ukraine, it’s not kindergarten,” Melnyk complained.
