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DEDiplomatic and expert circles are discussing the outburst of former German Chancellor and now Rosneft Chairman of the Board Gerhard Schroeder against the Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin, Andriy Melnyk.
The chancellor spoke sharply about the Ukrainian ambassador, who had criticized him earlier, and called the Ukrainian diplomat a «dwarf» In the first issue of his audio podcast on the Spotify platform during the discussion about the relations with the United States.
«We should not irritate each other with sanctions. I tried to point out that this is also true for Russia. Why then does either the ambassador or the former foreign minister – a dwarf from Ukraine – criticize me? », Schroeder said.
Many experts were astonished by the former German chancellor’s position since he focused on the physical features of a person in public debate on economic restrictions against Russia.
The reason for Schroeder’s dissatisfaction was Melnik’s interview with the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel in early May. There the Ukrainian diplomat criticized the ex-chancellor’s calls to eliminate the sanctions against Russia which had been imposed for the actions against Ukraine.
Vasyl Bodnar, the deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, called Schroeder’s statement to be «sneaky».
«Very sneaky and tacky as for the ex-chancellor of Germany, however, as one says, those who sleep with dogs will rise with fleas». The comment by Schroeder is a warning for other supporters of the Russian Federation in Europe: do not run around with Russian money! And we will see that no harm comes to our ambassador! », – Bodnar wrote in his Twitter after the release of the podcast.
Let’s remind, earlier Melnyk had offered the pair to Schroeder who is the main lobbyist of the Kremlin in Germany, that the occupied Crimea would be returned to Ukraine.
