Outgoing ambassador to Ukraine: Melnyk explains reasons for dismissal

The outgoing Ukrainian ambassador Melnyk has achieved one thing: he has made his country’s concerns heard – if not always according to diplomatic textbooks. In an interview, he now looks back and expresses some regret.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj invited Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to visit Ukraine for a second time. That said the outgoing Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk in an interview with “Zeit”. “We are still waiting for his visit to Kyiv. In the last telephone call, President Zelenskyj personally invited him for the second time,” said the Ukrainian ambassador.

Melnyk said he would leave Germany “in two or three weeks”. The reason for his resignation is still a mystery to this day. That is “although a routine matter”, but also has to do with his “type of diplomacy”. The diplomat is known for sometimes sharp and hurtful statements. He once described Chancellor Olaf Scholz as an “offended liverwurst”. That was “probably not appropriate,” said Melnyk.

On another occasion, Melnyk expressed sympathy for the Ukrainian nationalist and Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, accused of human rights crimes during World War II. Today Melnyk regrets his statements. He underestimated “the emotional importance that this extremely sensitive topic still has, especially for our Polish friends. That was a mistake. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

Three weeks ago, President Selenskyj signed a decree recalling diplomats from Germany and a number of other countries. It is a “simple rotation, as is customary,” assured Selenskyj. In addition to Melnyk, the ambassadors in the Czech Republic, Norway, Hungary, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were also ordered back to Kyiv.

Melnyk has been ambassador in Berlin since December 2014. In view of the Russian war of aggression in his homeland, he had repeatedly sharply criticized Germany’s policy and accused the federal government of being too hesitant, especially on the question of arms deliveries.

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