President Volodymyr Zelenskyi fired Ukraine’s ambassador to London, Vadym Prystayk, a few days after the diplomat publicly criticized the Ukrainian president, Reuters reports.
The dismissal of Vadym Prystayk was announced by presidential decree without an official indication of the reason. He was also dismissed from the position of representative of Ukraine in the International Maritime Organization.
The whole scandal broke out after the statement of the British Defense Minister Ben Wallace, who said that Kyiv should show more gratitude for the supply of weapons from its allies to fight the Russian occupation forces.
“You know, we’re not Amazon. I told them that last year when I drove 11 hours to get the list,” he said.
Ukrainian Ambassador Vadym Prystayk was asked by Sky News if there was a hint of sarcasm in Zelenskyi’s remarks, when the Ukrainian president, referring to Ben Wallace’s comments, said he couldn’t see how he could express his gratitude more than he does every morning when he wakes up. he called Ben Wallace to thank him.
“I don’t think such sarcasm is healthy. We must not show the Russians that something is (not working) between us. They need to know that we work together. If something happens, Ben can call me and say whatever he wants,” Ambassador Prystayko replied.
It is very unusual for a diplomat to publicly criticize his president, but Prystako clearly felt that a deterioration had crept into the relationship between Ukraine and its closest Western partner, which needs to be corrected, comments The Guardian, News.ro reports.
According to the British daily, it appears that Prystaiko had a “difficult” phone conversation with Zelenskyi on Thursday, which ended in his dismissal.
He has been the ambassador in London since June 2020 and was previously the foreign minister.
His dismissal, along with Wallace’s expected departure as defense minister, means there will be significant changes in a key area of the UK-Ukraine axis at a critical time for Ukraine’s counteroffensive, The Guardian comments.
On the other hand, regarding the International Maritime Organization (IMO) – the UN body, whose representative from Ukraine was also Prystayko, and now this position also remains vacant – it became known on Wednesday that Ukraine sent a letter to the IMO in which it states that it establishes a new grain transportation route through the Black Sea, which will involve passing through the territorial waters of Romania, after Russia withdrew from the agreement guaranteeing the transportation of Ukrainian grain via a safe route. Moscow later announced that it would consider any vessel bound for Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea as a legitimate target.
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Source: Hot News
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