Ukraine Will Not Appoint Ambassador to Moscow Due to "Russian Aggression"

Kiev does not want to increase the status of diplomatic relations with Moscow. Earlier, Sergey Lavrov said that Ukraine and Russia could exchange ambassadors.

Kiev does not plan to raise the status of diplomatic relations with Russia. This was reported in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. UNIAN agency cited excerpts from the statement on Tuesday, January 11.

"There is no reason to increase the status of diplomatic relations by appointing Ukrainian ambassador," the Foreign Ministry said, adding that they take into account "the continuation of Russian aggression" and "the occupation of Ukrainian territories by Russia."

The statement was a response to the words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who in an interview published on February 10 by Rossiyskaya Gazeta indicated that Moscow would not mind exchanging ambassadors with Ukraine again.

At temporary attorney’s level

Ukraine recalled its diplomatic representative to the Russian Federation Volodymyr Yelchenko, in March 2014. Since 2015, the post of charge d'affaires of Ukraine in the Russian Federation has been held by Ruslan Nimchinski.

The Russian ambassador in Kiev, Mikhail Zurabov, was recalled in February 2014 and in July 2016 President Vladimir Putin dismissed him.

After the recall of Zurabov, Andrei Vorobyov became the charge d'affaires of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. In May 2016, he suddenly died in Moscow as a result of a stroke. In July 2016, Sergey Toropov was appointed temporary charge d'affaires of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and on November 16 of the same year he was replaced by Alexander Lukashik, who remains in office to this day.