Zelenskyy refuses to discuss demands for dismissal of Ukraine's ambassador to US

Ivanna Kostina — Sunday, 29 September 2024, 10:40

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that he can only discuss the issue of dismissing ambassadors with the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament.

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with Fox News

Details: Zelenskyy was responding to House Speaker Mike Johnson's ultimatum to dismiss Ukraine's Ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova.

"I am the president of Ukraine and I can discuss our ambassadors only with the speaker [of the parliament] of my country. That's the Constitution. I can't discuss this with Speaker Johnson, with all due respect," he said.

Background:

  • Earlier this week, Johnson released a letter addressed to President Zelenskyy with categorical demands for Ukraine.
  • Johnson attributed his ultimatum to an incident during Zelenskyy’s visit to the United States, specifically his trip to an ammunition factory in Pennsylvania.
  • He claimed that Ambassador Markarova had organised the event, which "failed to include a single Republican".
  • Therefore, Johnson noted that the incident had caused "the Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarova's ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country," and repeated the demand to Zelenskyy that the Ambassador of Ukraine should "be removed from her post immediately".
  • Zelenskyy stressed that presidential candidate Donald Trump did not raise the issue of his visit to Pennsylvania during their meeting. "I was in Utah ... I was in Pennsylvania. It was [at] different times, but it was not about the election. I don't want to involve us [in] the election period of the United States," he said.
  • He highlighted the importance of bipartisan support and mentioned that he had met with representatives from both parties, expressing gratitude to ordinary Americans for their backing.

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