Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has fired the country’s ambassador to the UK after he criticized the president’s response to a dispute over British military aid.
Vadym Prystaiko had criticized Zelensky’s sarcastic response to Defense Secretary Ben Wallace’s suggestions that Ukraine should show more gratitude for its allies’ arms supplies.
Zelensky signed a decree of removal of Prystaiko, published on the presidential website. He did not provide a reason.
The dispute began when Wallace told reporters at a NATO summit in Vilnius this month that Britain was not an Amazon arms delivery service to Ukraine and suggested that Kiev could express more “gratitude.”
The UK is the second largest arms donor to Ukraine, with the nation committing £4.6bn in military assistance to the country so far. British troops have also been training thousands of Ukrainian soldiers.
Vadym Prystaiko (pictured) had criticized Zelensky’s sarcastic response to Defense Secretary Ben Wallace’s suggestions that Ukraine should show more gratitude for its allies’ arms supplies.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has fired the country’s ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, after he criticized the president’s response to a dispute over British military aid.
The dispute began when Wallace (pictured July 18) told reporters at a NATO summit in Vilnius this month that Britain was not an Amazon arms delivery service to Ukraine and suggested Kiev could express more “gratitude.”
Zelensky responded at a summit news conference, saying he did not know how else to make Ukraine’s gratitude clear, adding: “We could wake up in the morning and express our words of gratitude to the minister personally.”
The Ukrainian diplomat agreed with a Sky News interviewer’s suggestion that Zelensky responded with “a bit of sarcasm” to Wallace.
‘I don’t think 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 relations with the UK.
“If something happens, Ben can call me and tell me whatever he wants,” said the diplomat.
Prystaiko is a career diplomat who has served as Ambassador to the United Kingdom since July 2020.
He became a leading figure in London amid the UK’s response to the war, often appearing on television and radio to outline the latest sights in Kiev while attending various official events in Downing Street and elsewhere related to the Ukrainian war effort.
Just last Thursday, he was in the royal box at the Wimbledon tennis championships.
Before taking up the diplomatic post in London, he was Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and was also Foreign Minister.
The dispute began last week when Wallace said he had told Kiev officials bluntly: “I’m not Amazon” when he was presented with a “shopping list” after an 11-hour drive to visit the war-torn capital.
Zelensky fired the country’s ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko (pictured), on Friday after he criticized the president’s response to a dispute over UK military aid.
He went on to suggest that kyiv had not shown enough “gratitude” for the material support it had received since the February 2022 invasion.
In surprisingly strong remarks at the event in Vilnius, Lithuania, Mr. Wallace had told reporters: ‘Here’s a little warning: like it or not, people want to see gratitude.
‘My advice to the Ukrainians… they are persuading countries to give up their own actions. And yes, the war is a noble war and yes, we see it as a war not only for you but for our freedoms.
‘But sometimes you have to persuade lawmakers on Capitol Hill in the United States. You have to persuade incredulous politicians in other countries that it’s worth it and that it’s worth it and that they get something for it.’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak publicly distanced himself from his chief minister’s complaint, saying Zelensky had “expressed his gratitude for what we have done on several occasions.”
It came after Ukraine’s warlord expressed frustration at the reluctance of the 31 member states to agree on a firm timetable for NATO membership.
Wallace has since tried to clarify his warning to Ukraine not to treat NATO like ‘Amazon’ for its weapons and complained that his controversial comments had been ‘misinterpreted’.
Instead, he insisted that he was simply offering Zelensky advice that, in order to maintain popular support in the West, the relationship had to be a ‘partnership’ rather than a ‘transactional’ one.
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