President Volodymyr Zelenskiy fired Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Vadym Prystaiko, on Friday, only days after the envoy publicly criticized the president.
Prystaiko was also dismissed as Ukraine’s envoy to the International Maritime Organization, according to a presidential decree, although no cause was given for the dismissal.
In an interview with Sky News last week, Prystaiko was asked about comments made by outgoing British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said that Kyiv should be more grateful for weapons delivery from its friends in order to battle Russia’s invading forces.
Zelenskiy responded by saying Ukraine was always grateful to Britain, a staunch ally. He was also quoted by British media as saying Wallace could let him know how to express his gratitude or how “we could get up in the morning and express our words of gratitude to the minister.”
Asked whether Zelenskiy was being sarcastic, Prystaiko told Sky there was “a little bit of sarcasm” when the president “said that each and every morning he will wake up and call Ben Wallace to thank him.”
“I don’t believe that this sarcasm is healthy,” he said, adding that the Russians “have to know that we’re working together.”
Zelenskiy’s order did not say who would replace Prystaiko, 53, an experienced diplomat and former vice prime minister who had held the post as ambassador to Britain for three years.
