KYIV: Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday dismissed the country’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Vadym Prystaiko, after he criticised the president’s response to a row over British military aid.
Prystaiko had criticised Zelensky’s sarcastic response to suggestions from British defence minister Ben Wallace that Ukraine should show more gratitude 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 journalists at a NATO summit in Vilnius this month that Britain was not an Amazon delivery service for weapons to Ukraine and suggested Kyiv could express more “gratitude”.
The UK is a major donor of weapons to Ukraine and also trains its troops.
Zelensky responded at a press conference at the summit, saying he did not know how else to make clear Ukraine’s gratitude, adding: “We could wake up in the morning and express our words of gratitude to the minister personally.”
The Ukrainian diplomat agreed with a suggestion from a Sky News interviewer that Zelensky responded with “a little bit of sarcasm” to Wallace.
“I don’t believe that this sarcasm is healthy. We don’t have to show the Russians that we have something between us, they have to know that we are working together,” Prystaiko added, stressing the need to smooth over relations with the UK.
“If anything happens, Ben can call me and tell me everything he wants,” the diplomat said.
Prystaiko is a career diplomat who has served as ambassador to the United Kingdom since July 2020. He was previously Ukraine’s foreign minister from 2019 to 2020.
At least two people have been injured in new Russian missile attacks on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa on the Black Sea, German news agency (dpa) quoted the authorities.
It was the fourth attack this week on the city of more than a million people.
According to Kiper, the attacks were once again directed at grain storage facilities. Odessa was one of the ports through which Ukraine shipped grain under the international grain agreement that Moscow withdrew from this week.
The shelling destroyed 100 tonnes of peas and 20 tonnes of barley, the regional governor said. Two people suffered cuts as a result of the explosion, Kiper added.
Meanwhile, Beijing confirmed that its consulate has been damaged in the recent wave of attacks on Odessa.
An explosion near the diplomatic mission had damaged parts of the wall cladding and window panes, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. The employees of the consulate had long since left the building and nobody was injured.
China is following developments closely and is in contact with the parties involved, the spokesperson said. “We will take all measures necessary to keep Chinese institutions and nationals safe in Ukraine,” the spokesperson was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
