The search for candidates for the positions of ambassadors of Ukraine in Great Britain and Norway is underway - Kuleba

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has stated that Ukraine currently lacks ambassadors to Britain and Norway due to the ongoing search for "strong candidates" suitable for these positions. Kuleba made these remarks in an interview for the YouTube project "Bomber".

"In these countries, we need to find particularly strong candidates (for ambassadorial positions – ed.). And this search continues. This is also a problem for me, and I am tense internally because of it"
stated the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kuleba emphasized the need for "a special type of people" to work in London and Oslo. "The search continues. But there are already several new candidates. I will propose them to President Volodymyr Zelensky because he makes the final decision. But the search continues," added the minister.

The posts of ambassadors to the UK and Norway are currently vacant. On July 9, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ukrainian ambassador to Norway, Vyacheslav Yatsyuk. Subsequently, on July 21, 2023, President Zelensky removed Vadym Prystayk from the position of Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom. A source close to the diplomat stated that this decision was unexpected for Prystayk.

The ambassador's team is uncertain whether the dismissal is connected to Zelensky's criticism of statements about the head of the British Ministry of Defense, Ben Wallace. However, this coincidence has been deemed "weird."

In a comment to Sky News, Prystaiko referred to Zelensky's remark expressing gratitude to Wallace for military aid as "unhealthy sarcasm". "I think he reacted with a bit of sarcasm... when President Zelensky said he would wake up every morning and call Ben Wallace to thank him. I don't think this sarcasm is healthy sarcasm," stated the Ukrainian diplomat during the press conference.