President Zelensky sacks Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK after criticizing his sarcastic response to Ben Wallace’s suggestion that Kiev should show more appreciation for arms
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday fired the country’s ambassador to the UK, Vadim Prystaiko, after he criticized the president’s response to a dispute over British military aid.
Prystaiko criticized Zelensky’s sarcastic response to British Defense Minister Ben Wallace’s suggestion that Ukraine should show more appreciation for arms supplies from its allies.
Zelensky signed a decree dismissing Prystaiko published on the presidential website. It did not provide a reason.
The row began when Wallace told reporters at a NATO summit in Vilnius this month that Britain was not an Amazon delivery service for weapons in Ukraine and suggested Kiev could show more ‘gratitude’.
The UK is a major donor of arms to Ukraine and also trains its troops.
Vadim Prystaiko (pictured) criticized Zelensky’s sarcastic response to British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace’s suggestion that Ukraine should show more appreciation for arms supplies from its allies.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday fired the country’s ambassador to the UK, Vadim Prystaiko, after he criticized the president’s response to a dispute over British military aid.
The row began when Wallace (pictured July 18) told reporters at a NATO summit in Vilnius this month that Britain was not an Amazon delivery service for weapons in Ukraine and suggested Kiev could show more ‘gratitude’.
Zelensky responded at a press conference at the summit, saying he did not know how to express Ukraine’s gratitude, adding: ‘We can wake up in the morning and express our gratitude personally to the minister.’
The Ukrainian diplomat agreed with a Sky News interviewer’s suggestion that Zelensky responded to Wallace with ‘a bit of sarcasm’.
‘I don’t believe this sarcasm is healthy. We don’t need to show the Russians that we have something, they need to know that we are working together,’ Prystaiko added, stressing the need to smooth relations with the UK.
‘If anything, Ben can call me and tell me anything he wants,’ said the diplomat.
Pristaiko is a career diplomat who has served as Ambassador to the United Kingdom since July 2020. He was previously the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine from 2019 to 2020.
Zelensky on Friday fired the country’s ambassador to the UK, Vadim Prystaiko (pictured), after he criticized the president’s response to the controversy over British military aid.
Meanwhile, Wallace has sought to clarify his warning to Ukraine against treating NATO as an ‘Amazon’ for weapons and gripes that his controversial comments have been ‘misinterpreted’.
Instead, he insisted that he had simply advised Zelensky that to maintain popular support in the West, the relationship had to be a ‘partnership’ rather than a ‘transaction’.
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