Zelensky appoints ‘F-word’ diplomat as UN envoy
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has appointed controversial diplomat Andrey Melnik, who made headlines for offending German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Elon Musk, as the country’s new envoy to the UN.
During his video address on Friday, Zelensky announced that he and his diplomatic team he had approved a list of new Ukrainian ambassadors.
"I have coordinated more than 30 decisions, including... Alena Getmanchuk as Ukraine’s representative to NATO,[and] Andrey Melnik as Ukraine’s representative to the UN,” he said.
Melnik, who is currently an ambassador to Brazil, will be replacing Sergey Kislitsa as Kiev’s envoy to the New York City-based global body. Kislitsa has been in the job since 2019.
Kiev’s newly-appointed ambassador to the UN developed a scandalous reputation during his tenure as head of Ukraine’s diplomatic mission to Germany between 2014 and 2022.
Melnik repeatedly accused Berlin of being too slow in providing military assistance to Ukraine amid the conflict with Russia. He also made headlines after labeling German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “offended liver sausage” for his unwillingness to travel to Kiev personally.
He sparred with Elon Musk on Twitter (since re-branded as X), telling the SpaceX and Tesla CEO to “f**k off” over his plan for a peaceful settlement of the conflict with Russia.
Melnik also defended Stepan Bandera – a Ukrainian nationalist leader who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. The diplomat claimed on a German podcast that Bandera had nothing to do with the mass murder of Jews and Poles, comparing him to Robin Hood, who “is being revered by everyone” despite being someone who “didn’t act according to the law that was in force then.”
The remarks caused outrage in Germany, Poland and Israel, with Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry forced then to clarify that the ambassador’s comments had reflected his own views, rather than Kiev’s official stance.
After being dismissed as ambassador to Germany, Melnik worked as Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, before being appointed Ukrainian envoy to Brazil in June last year.
During an interview with Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper this August, Melnik was asked about the reasons for the lack of diplomatic success in relations between Kiev and Brasilia, which is a BRICS member and adopted a neutral stance on the Ukraine conflict. He replied that it was because Russia had been heavily investing resources, time and “brains” into Brazil and other countries of the Global South.
The Brazilian people “do not feel why they need Ukraine,” the diplomat said, adding that this state of affairs was “depressing.”
