President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaking at the opening ceremony of the 26th round table of The Economist magazine, from Kyiv. July 5, 2022. HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired Kyiv’s ambassador to Germany on Saturday, along with several other senior foreign ambassadors, the presidential website said.
In a decree that did not give a reason for the move, he announced the dismissal of Ukraine’s ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary.
It was not immediately clear whether the envoys would be given new jobs.
Zelensky urged his diplomats to rally international support and military aid for Ukraine as it tries to repel Russia’s February 24 invasion.
Kyiv’s relationship with Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy supplies and is also Europe’s largest economy, is a particularly sensitive issue.
The two capitals are currently at loggerheads over a German-made turbine undergoing maintenance in Canada. Germany wants Ottawa to return the turbine to Russian gas giant Gazprom to pump gas to Europe.
Kyiv has urged Canada to keep the turbine, saying sending it to Russia would be a violation of sanctions imposed on Moscow.
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