Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrey Deshchitsa, who called President Putin a “f**ker” in a chat with protesters who vandalized the Russian embassy last week, has been fired. His new posting, however, could be as ambassador, perhaps even to Moscow.
A total of 319 Ukrainian MPs voted in favor of firing Deshchitsa
on Thursday, well above the required simple majority of 226
votes. Meanwhile, newly-elected President Petro Poroshenko
declared that he wanted to thank the former FM by offering him
another diplomatic posting.
“I want to separately thank Andrey Bogdanovich Deshchitsa. I
can say that I offered him to head one of Ukraine’s foreign
diplomatic missions and he accepted the offer,” Poroshenko
said after the parliamentary vote.
Poroshenko did not specify which country Deshchitsa would be sent
to, however.
“Russia, Russia!” Ukrainian MPs started calling out in
parliament, along with other suggested destinations.
“Please do not insist on the country, we will pick one
together with Deshchitsa,” the president replied.
Poroshenko proposed Ukraine’s current ambassador to Germany,
Pavel Klimkin, as the new foreign minister. His appointment was
approved by MPs.
The diplomatic scandal blew up last Sunday as a few hundred
Ukrainian protesters were rallying outside the Russian Embassy in
Kiev. Deshchitsa joined the protesters, who vandalized the premises of the embassy. Their
actions included overturning several diplomatic cars, piling up
tires to block entry into the building, throwing stones, smoke
grenades and eggs, and painting Nazi insignias.
“In an effort to calm the people,” as he later explained it, Deshchitsa said: “I want to say: Russia, get out of Ukraine. Putin’s a f**ker, right!” His words were immediately picked up and turned into a football chant by the delighted mob.
The undiplomatic language saw support from some US officials. US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt wrote in his Twitter account that he gave “great credit to @ADeshchytsia for seeking to defuse a dangerous situation. A skilled diplomat and credit to #Ukraine”
US State Dept. spokesperson Jen Psaki on Monday also defended Deshchitsa, saying that his swearing was
justified by what it achieved.
“He’s been encouraging calm, encouraging a peaceful
resolution, and I would otherwise point you to the Ukrainians on
the meaning of the language used, but I think the context here of
what effort he was undergoing is an incredibly important
part.”