Zaluzhnyi not invited to Zelensky’s meeting with British Defence Secretary Streeting

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Valerii Zaluzhnyi was not invited to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with new British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, who visited Kyiv on August 5.

This was reported by Yevropeyska Pravda, citing a statement by Zaluzhnyi’s adviser Oksana Torop.

“Ambassador Valerii Zaluzhnyi was not invited to the meeting between the President of Ukraine and the British Defence Secretary,” Torop said.

Zelensky’s adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, however, insists on a different version of events: according to him, participation in such meetings is “an initiative matter,” and Zaluzhnyi himself did not express a desire to attend, choosing another event instead. Journalists, nonetheless, write that Zaluzhnyi learned of the meeting only after it had concluded.

The meeting incident is not the only episode that observers have noted. In the group photo taken during the annual conference of Ukrainian ambassadors, Zaluzhnyi was placed in the back row. Meanwhile, former Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Olha Stefanishyna ended up in the front row — next to the president. Notably, this photo was taken shortly before her dismissal from the post of ambassador and the subsequent serving of a suspicion notice against her in a corruption case, yet her place in the front row was preserved. Zaluzhnyi, who holds an equivalent ambassadorial post — in the United Kingdom — was pushed to the back row.

According to a recent poll, Zaluzhnyi would defeat Zelensky by a wide margin if the two faced each other in a presidential election runoff. In addition, more Ukrainians trust the ambassador than the president.