Ukraine President Zelensky fires ambassador to UK after criticism
A source close to the president’s office said Vadym Prystaiko had been dismissed for publicly criticising the Ukrainian leader during an interview.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK has been sacked because he backed comments by Ben Wallace suggesting Kyiv should do more to demonstrate its gratitude for British weapons, diplomatic sources have told The Times.
Vadym Prystaiko was removed from his post by executive order of President Zelensky on Friday morning.
A diplomatic source close to the president’s office said Prystaiko had been dismissed for publicly criticising Zelensky during an interview with Sky News.
“It began with the story of (outgoing British Defence Secretary) Ben Wallace and Amazon, and then he commented incorrectly,” the source said.
Prystaiko and Zelensky were unable to resolve a dispute that blew up after Wallace, the defence secretary, complained that Ukraine needed to show more gratitude for British weapons deliveries because the UK was “not Amazon”, the online retail giant.
Ukraine has made a series of desperate pleas for more western weapons to limit the number of casualties it is suffering in its counteroffensive, which aims to retake territory seized by Russia in the country’s south.
“Whether we like it or not, people want to see gratitude,” the defence secretary told a Nato summit in Vilnius this month. He added: “You know, we’re not Amazon. I told them that last year, when I drove 11 hours to be given a list.”
Ukraine countered that it had already repeatedly and publicly expressed its gratitude, arguing that it was fighting a war to defend Europe from President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to reconstitute the Soviet empire.
Zelensky then sought to make light of the disagreement, using humour in response to a question from Deborah Haynes of Sky News suggesting Kyiv ought to demonstrate more gratitude.
“I think we’ve always been grateful toward the United Kingdom, I have always been grateful to the prime minister – or rather, the prime ministers – and the minster of defence, Ben Wallace, because people in Britain have always supported Ukrainians and we are grateful,” Zelensky responded.
“I don’t understand the question and what he means. How else should we thank him? Let him write me and tell me how else I should thank the [British] people … we can wake up every morning and say thank you to the minister personally,” he said. “Maybe the minister wants something special, but we have a good relationship and we are thankful to the people. In the end, it’s the huge support of the people that influences the state policy.”
The questions continued in a subsequent interview with Prystaiko. “[That was] a little bit of sarcasm from President Zelensky when he said he would wake up every morning to thank the minister,” the ambassador said. “I don’t believe this sarcasm is healthy. We don’t have to show the Russians we have something [dividing] us. They have to know we are working together.”
The presidential decree did not give a reason for the dismissal of ambassador, who was well liked in London diplomatic circles and had formed a strong and frank working relationship with Wallace and the Defence Ministry.
However, Ukraine and the United Kingdom have formed a close bond at several levels of government since the war began – from the military to Downing Street – and the relationship is not expected to be affected by the change in ambassador.
The Times
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