The Extraordinary Four. Ukraine's Ambassadors Gather In Kyiv

What You Need To Know:

✅  Four Ambassadors representing Ukraine in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland spoke to Hromadske about their impressions of the Kremlin’s latest accusations against Ukraine, and what response they expect from Ukraine’s western partners;

✅  All four Ambassadors confirmed that they will continue to push for political pressure and heightened sanctions against the Russian Federation;

✅  “We expect the same clarity and the same kind of pressure we have witnessed in the last months” – Melnyk;

✅   Ukraine’s partners should think not about their solidarity with Ukraine, but about their egotistic interest, so that Putin can be stopped: “If you don’t make relatively limited sacrifices now, you will have to pay much more in 2 or 3 years.” – Shamshur.

Ukrainian Ambassadors gathered in Kyiv recently to discuss their respective diplomatic missions in various countries.  Four Ambassadors representing Ukraine in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland spoke to Hromadske about their impressions of the Kremlin’s latest accusations against Ukraine, and what response they expect from Ukraine’s western partners.

All four Ambassadors confirmed that they will continue to push for political pressure and heightened sanctions against the Russian Federation.   “We expect the same clarity and the same kind of pressure we have witnessed in the last months,” says Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany.

Despite increasing Euroskepticism in many of the nations, Natalia Galibarenko, Ukraine’s Ambassador in the U.K. says that : "Brexit, of course,  changes many things but this doesn’t mean that Ukraine is somehow out of the agenda. The political support is there."

With certain growing historical concerns in Poland, Ukraine’s Ambassador there, Andriy Deshchytsia says: "We should expect from  Poland, because Poland does understand Russia, that Poland will continue  support the policy of sanctions against Russia and continue to support Ukraine.”

While Oleh Shamshur, Ukraine’s Ambassador to France, is concerned with the rise of the far-right ‘Russian friends’ in his country of service, he believes that Ukraine, even if left alone “will fight, defend [its] independence and territorial integrity, no matter what.”  He adds that Ukraine’s partners should think not about their solidarity with Ukraine, but about their egotistic interest, so that Putin can be stopped: “If you don’t make relatively limited sacrifices now, you will have to pay much more in 2 or 3 years.”

Hromadske’s Nataliya Gumenyuk spoke to Natalia Galibarenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom,  Andriy Melnyk, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Germany, Oleh Shamshur, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to France and Andriy Deshchytsia,  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Poland on August 23rd, 2016 in Kyiv.