Zelenskiy sacks Ukraine's envoy to Germany, other ambassadors

[blue-wave]

Source: Reuters

KYIV, July 9 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday dismissed several of Kyiv's senior envoys abroad including the country's outspoken ambassador to Germany, the presidential website said.

In a decree that gave no reason for the move, Zelenskiy announced the sacking of Ukraine's ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary.

It was not immediately clear if the envoys would be assigned new positions.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zelenskiy-sacks-ukraines-envoy-germany-other-ambassadors-2022-07-09/

[Lasher]

1. Not sufficiently toeing the line, I suspect.

For example:

Zelensky has urged his diplomats to drum up international support and military aid for Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia's Feb. 24 invasion.

Kyiv's relations with Germany, which is heavily reliant on Russian energy supplies and also Europe's biggest economy, has been a particular sensitive matter.

The two capitals are currently at odds over a German-made turbine undergoing maintenance in Canada. Germany wants Ottawa to return the turbine to Russian natural gas giant Gazprom to pump gas to Europe.

Kyiv has urged Canada to keep the turbine, saying that shipping it to Russia would be a violation of sanctions imposed on Moscow.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/ukraines-president-sacks-ambassadors-to-india-4-others-nations-news-agency-reuters-3143538

Just a guess.

[paleotn]

2. That gets to the heart of the problem...

Technically, Canada would be violating sanctions.

[Xolodno]

3. One envoy, the guy just wasn't cutting the mustard.

Several at once? Something else is afoot here.

[LudwigPastorius]

4. Maybe the Prez sees his people dying to defend themselves and thinks that...

diplomats who are safe and eating well, and who aren't getting the desired results, shouldn't be rewarded with continued patience.

Perhaps, people who have been 'on the ground', instead of in the diplomatic corps for a significant time, would be more effective at communicating the urgency of Ukraine's much-needed support.

I can't fault him for that.

[Xolodno]

6. Andriy Melnyk has been very critical about the slow process of arms going to Ukraine.

And has been very vocal about a number of things. However, he was appointed by President Poroshenko (which Zelensky tried to have him arrested and jailed prior to the war...yes, the President after the Maidan, and managed to tilt slightly to the West while not provoking Putin). The article doesn't mention about the rest. Add to that, the nations these envoy's were stationed at, haven't exactly given Ukraine much in military arms (if any), nor will they, with the exception of Germany (but they are slow walking it).

Zelensky smells a coup. He may be right or it may be just a bit of paranoia, whose to say. But what we don't know is this, the morale on the ground with the citizens. We can be keyboard cowboys all day, but we are not facing what they are. We may scorn the "joke" that the West is willing to defend Ukraine to the last Ukrainian. But to your average Ukrainian, its no joke. How many husbands, boyfriends, sons, daughters, family are they willing to lose? We're comfy here in the USA, they are not.

Have to remember, prior to this, Ukraine wasn't exactly a beacon of light. Corruption was quite rampant and Zelensky was polling in the low 30's. He got a boost due to the war, but the longer this goes on...well...

I'm thinking he's getting rid of them to install loyalist to him. If there is a coup and your envoy to India immediately recognizes the new leadership, it makes things hard to not eventually recognize the new government.

[blue-wave]

8. "Several at once? Something else is afoot here."

Same thing I thought. Too many recalled in the middle of a war.

[dalton99a]

5. It was about Stepan Bandera

But in an interview on the show Jung & Nai, which streamed on YouTube on June 29, Mr. Melnyk defended the memory of Stepan Bandera, the leader of the far-right Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists during World War II. The nationalist group, which espoused fascist ideology, collaborated with German forces when they occupied Ukraine and some of those forces assisted in the mass murders of Poles and Jews.

Mr. Melnyk already raised eyebrows in Germany several years earlier for visiting Mr. Bandera’s grave in Munich. When confronted in the June 29 interview about the history of the OUN’s role in massacres, and Mr. Bandera’s anti-Semitic views, Mr. Melnyk said there was no proof for the claims, which are undisputed in academic circles.

“That is the narrative that the Russians are pushing to this day, and that has support in Germany, in Poland, and also in Israel,” he said.

Mr. Melnyk’s comments immediately stirred condemnation from German officials, as well as from Israel’s embassy in Germany. Two ministers in Poland, one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters since the Russian invasion, also decried the statements. That prompted Kyiv to distance itself from Mr. Melnyk, saying his views did not represent Ukraine’s position.

A fluent German speaker, Mr. Melnyk was known in Germany for his passionate advocacy for more weapons for Ukraine to defend itself against the Russian invasion. He did not shy away from colorful criticism, such as calling Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “insulted liverwurst” for delaying a visit to Kyiv in the spring. The German expression, which loosely translates into being a prima donna, outraged much of Germany’s political establishment. But it won him avid supporters in Germany among those frustrated with their country’s sluggish support.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/09/world/europe/ukraine-german-ambassador-andriy-melnyk.html