Zaluzhny was not at Zelensky’s meeting with the British Defense Minister: the OP and the embassy explained why

Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Valeriy Zaluzhny was not present at the meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Defense Minister Wes Streeting. At the same time, the President’s Office and the diplomat’s team explain the reasons for his absence in different ways.

This is reported by “European Pravda”.

The embassy stated that there was no invitation

British Defense Minister Wes Streeting arrived in Kyiv on August 5. During the visit, he held talks with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Acting Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara.

The parties discussed strengthening Ukrainian air defense, countering Russian drones, as well as further British military assistance, which will amount to at least 3 billion pounds sterling each year.

At the same time, journalists drew attention to the absence of Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Valeriy Zaluzhny at the meeting.

The ambassador’s media advisor, Oksana Torop, reported that the diplomat was not invited to the meeting.

“Ambassador Valeriy Zaluzhny was not invited to the meeting between the President of Ukraine and the British Defense Minister,” she noted.

The President’s Office gave another reason

Presidential Communications Advisor Dmytro Lytvyn stated that in the case of meetings with officials below the level of the prime minister or head of state, the ambassador’s participation is not mandatory.

According to him, the diplomat himself determines whether he will participate in such events and must notify about it in advance.

“There is a long-standing protocol practice that with the prime minister or president of another country, the ambassador in that country almost always arrives, and if the level is lower, then each ambassador independently determines and reports if there will be one. Today, as far as we know, the ambassador participates in the events of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the annual meeting with ambassadors,” Lytvyn explained.

Sources’ version

According to sources of “European Truth”, Valeriy Zaluzhny learned about the meeting after it had ended. Because of this, he had no opportunity to announce his intention to attend or join the negotiations.

Currently, Valeriy Zaluzhny himself has not made any official comments on the situation.