Valeriya Zaluzhnyi Was Not Invited to the Meeting with the British Minister, — Media

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi was not invited to a meeting with a British minister, — media

Ambassador Valerii Zaluzhnyi and the Office of the President express divergent positions on why the meeting with British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace took place without Ukraine’s ambassador in Britain.

This is reported by European Pravda.

As known, on Wednesday it became known about a visit to Ukraine by the newly appointed British Defense Secretary Wallace. In official photos and video materials from this event, the British ambassador is present, but there is no Ukrainian one.

In Zaluzhnyi’s circle, they claim that the reason was that the ambassador was not informed about this event.

"The ambassador Valeriy Zaluazhnyi was not invited to the meeting between the President of Ukraine and the British defense minister," said EuroPravda media representative Oksana Torop.

Presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, for his part, answered EuroPravda’s query that Zaluzhnyi should have initiated his participation himself but did not, choosing another event. "This is an initiative-driven story (on official visits) with a level below the prime minister or president. There is an established long-standing practice in protocol that with the prime minister or president of another country the ambassador in that country almost always attends, and if the level is lower, then each ambassador independently determines and informs if they will participate in the meeting. Today, as far as we know, the ambassador is participating in Foreign Ministry events within the annual ambassador conference," Lytvin said.

However, according to sources not corroborated by an official comment, Zaluzhnyi learned about the meeting only after it had taken place — and therefore did not have the opportunity to inform of his desire.

The editorial offices do not know for sure how involved the Ukrainian Embassy in London, which is subordinate to Zaluzhnyi, was in preparing the visit.

Meanwhile, attention is drawn to the asymmetry of the Ukrainian and British delegations.