Zelensky fires his ambassador to the UK after he backed Ben Wallace in a dispute over ‘being grateful’ for Ukraine’s weapons of war – News Block

UKRAINE President Zelensky fired his ambassador to Britain today after he backed Ben Wallace in a fight over saying thanks for the guns.

Zelensky issued a decree dismissing Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko with immediate effect.

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Prystaiko, a former foreign minister, defended Britain’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace following a spat at the NATO summit last week.

wallace said Ukraine he needed to show more gratitude and not treat Britain and its allies like an Amazon arms delivery service.

Prystaiko said Zelensky was wrong to respond by mocking Wallace, one of Ukraine’s biggest cheerleaders.

Prystaiko also accused Zelensky of playing into Russian hands by revealing high-level divisions in public.

He said: “I don’t think this sarcasm is healthy.”

he also told him Darling News: “We don’t have to show the Russians that we have something between us.

“They have to know that we are working together.”

Wallace echoed US concerns that “doubting politicians” and members of the public wanted to see more thanks for their donations.

He said: “Like it or not, people want to see gratitude.

“You know, we’re not Amazon. I told them that last year, when I drove 11 hours to get a listing.”

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan previously said: “The American people deserve a degree of gratitude.”

But Zelensky, a former comedian, quipped: “We can wake up in the morning and thank the minister.”

When asked about Wallace’s comments, he added: “Let him write to me and tell me how to thank him.”

Speaking at a press conference, Zelensky called his Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and asked: “Oleksii, you are here.

“Do you have bad relations with the defense minister?”

Reznikov replied: “Incredible!”

Amid a flurry of laughter, Zelensky switched to English and said: “That’s great. You have to call him. Please.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quick to endorse Zelensky and distanced himself from Wallace’s comments.

Allies of the Secretary of Defense said: “Don’t ridicule your allies.”

Wallace, former Army led the charge with weapons donations including NLAW, Brimstone and Storm Shadow missiles, GMLRS and Star Streak rocket launchers and Challenger 2 tanks.

Wallace announced plans to resign in the next cabinet reshuffle after four years in office.

He had hoped to be appointed head of NATO, but US President Biden rejected the UK’s bid to be Secretary General.

Prystaiko’s comments sparked a furore in kyiv after they were widely reported on Russian television.

The Sun revealed on Thursday that Prystaiko had faced a series of furious rebukes from kyiv.

Today, President Zelensky issued a tersely worded decree “to remove Vadym Prystaik from the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenopotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and North Ireland“.

He was also dismissed from his position as permanent representative to the International Organization for Migration.

British officials insisted that Prystaiko has served as a vital link to kyiv’s wartime government and praised his skills in conveying Ukraine’s urgent demands with diplomacy.

But a UK source said: “kyiv will not accept any criticism of Zelensky.”

He was last seen in public on Center Court at Wimbledon last week, when he saw Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina knocked out in the semifinal.

He later left the Royal Box to boycott a match with a Belarusian player in protest of that country’s support for the invasion of Russia.

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