Nickname stuck: Belarus, Russia's foreign ministers condemn Ukrainian counterpart for abusive remarks about Putin

16.06.201413:17

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Minsk on Monday that he no longer had anything to discuss with his acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia after his pejorative remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

‘As for a character by the name of Deshchytsia, yesterday I said everything about our assessment of his behaviour,’ Mr Lavrov said. ‘I no longer have anything to discuss with him and I will not associate with him.’

Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makey said that personal insults, especially if they were directed against the head of state, were inacceptable.

Mr Makey said that Belarus was used to being labeled as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’ for no good reason and insulted by journalists and ‘irresponsible’ politicians. ‘However, it’s one matter when such offensive statements about the head of another state are made by irresponsible journalists and another when this comes from the mouth of a diplomat, the head of a foreign policy agency,’ he said.

Ukraine’s foreign minister has become embroiled in an unusual diplomatic row after he was caught on camera making abusive remarks about Vladimir Putin outside the Russian embassy in Kiev on Saturday evening. While trying to appease an angry crowd near the Russian embassy in Kyiv on Saturday evening, Mr Deshchytsia said that although he also regarded Mr Putin as a ‘khuylo’, it would be wrong to storm the embassy.

{movie}Ukrainian FM’s remark about Putin, video by Anella Tomson|right|16997{/movie}

Geoff Pyatt, the US ambassador to Ukraine, wrote on Twitter that the minister had been ‘seeking to defuse a dangerous situation’, calling Deshchytsia ‘a skilled diplomat and credit to Ukraine’.

Deshchytsia did not comment on the incident but said on Twitter: ‘We managed to stop violence at the Russian embassy yesterday, but it will be difficult to do so in future if Russian aggression continues.’

As the conflict in eastern Ukraine has deepened in recent months, the chant of ‘Putin Khuylo’ originally used by football fans has become ever more popular among Ukrainians who blame Russia for stoking discontent in the east. Khuylo is a Russian swearword that approximately translates as ‘di**head’. It is also addressed to an amoral person who easily deceive and betray others.

{movie}Ukrainian football fans about Russia’s Putin |right|16998{/movie}

According to Ukrainian political analysts, Mr Deshchytsia will have to leave his position due to the incident. Pavel Klimkin, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany, may head the country’s foreign ministry, eurointegration.com.ua reports.