MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Valery Zaluzhny would encounter widespread fatigue in London from the Ukraine crisis if he is appointed Ukrainian ambassador to London, and the sacked general would have to make a Herculean effort to revive flagging British support to its previously buoyant levels, former Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Vadim Pristaiko said.
"Unfortunately, everybody is getting tired of the war, now in its third year. And our British friends are getting tired, too," Pristaiko, who served as Kiev’s envoy to the Court of St. James’s in 2020-2023, said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper. "And I say that the new envoy will have to find new arguments and new means for supporting Ukraine," with "revitalizing the provision of assistance [to Kiev] by [Western] partners" being the major task.
According to Pristaiko, in terms of further aid, "Great Britain has mostly exhausted its resources, including military ones." "We have been given everything that could be given," he maintained.
Commenting on the conventional procedures for diplomatic appointments, the ex-ambassador acknowledged that the approval of Zaluzhny as ambassador prior to the receipt of London’s consent was not in line with international practice.
On February 8, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky removed Zaluzhny from the post of commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, citing stagnation on the front and the need for a "reboot" of the war effort, but on the next day he bestowed the title "Hero of Ukraine" on the general. On March 7, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced that the head of state had pre-approved Zaluzhny’s candidacy for Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK.