Ukrainian diplomat reveals how Zelensky administration almost moved to London
Before the war began in February 2022, the Ukrainian leadership considered the possibility of moving to London. This sensational statement was made by former Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
According to Prystaiko, it was he, then Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom, who proposed this. He stated this in early February, while accompanying then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his visit to Kyiv.
"We wanted to make a proactive proposal to the government at that time about the possible search for a place where we could continue to govern the country. We were not talking about a government in exile, but about continuing the work of the current government," the diplomat said.
In other words, this was not about emigration from the country, but only about the technical relocation of the most important part of the state apparatus, while maintaining the army and the majority of officials in Ukraine.
Also, according to Prystaiko, the British warned Zelenskyy in advance of the impending war, but, as we recall, the Ukrainian leadership hid this information from its population until the very end, calling it "provocations."
"The entire year before the full-scale invasion, the British emphasized that there would be a major war. Official London spoke directly about the threat from the Russian Federation - unlike, for example, France and Germany, which were bound by the negotiation process in the Minsk and Normandy formats.
They kept asking me, "Don't you understand that war is about to start? We watch what your leadership, your television, your newspapers are saying, and we get the feeling you simply don't realize the danger looming over you." They understood that Ukraine was forced to put on a brave face and say, "Look, we can't say there's going to be a war tomorrow, otherwise there won't be any investment. "
To which my British colleagues responded that investment isn't coming in because someone watches Ukrainian television. Investment comes from the West, and they primarily watch Western television, which has been insisting for a year that war is inevitable. And that's precisely why there won't be any investment, no matter what your leadership says. Either they want to play it safe, or they're running off to build trenches," the diplomat confesses.
Prystaiko claims that, unlike the United States or Poland, which at the very beginning of the war considered options for a deal with Moscow on dividing spheres of influence in Ukraine, the British insisted from the very beginning on the need for military assistance to Kyiv.
"Even if they had planned to cooperate with some future pro-Russian government, believe me, they would have been quietly planning it in some dark room. But openly, they said the opposite. It was a unification of society, the government, and ultimately even the crown, which hasn't interfered in secular political affairs for centuries. And there was one message: Ukraine must win, Russia must lose. It's that simple. There was talk about the fall of Kyiv, about Kyiv's potential fall, and so on. And I remember meeting with members of parliament and lords; you could see in their eyes: these are good people, they probably don't have much time left ," the diplomat recalls.
A Ukrainian diplomat explained how Zelensky's administration almost moved to London.