MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom Valery Zaluzhny was not allowed to attend Vladimir Zelensky’s meeting with British Secretary of State for Defense Wes Streeting, who had arrived in Kiev, according to European Pravda.

Zaluzhny is currently in Kiev, but he does not appear in the footage from the meeting. The ambassador’s spokesperson told the publication that he was not invited to the meeting and was not even informed that it was taking place.

Zelensky’s office said that ambassadors are not required to attend events at a level below that of the prime minister, and Zaluzhny "could have taken the initiative himself".

Meanwhile, Ukrainian media are putting forward a theory that Zaluzhny was deliberately not allowed in as a form of revenge for his recent statements that Ukraine will never join NATO and will not be able to reach "even half of Russia’s level" in terms of defense any time soon.