Ukrainian MFA Called on Austria to Expel Russian Diplomat for "The Elimination of the Ukrainian Nation"
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has called on Austria to expel the Permanent Representative of Russia to International Organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, who published a tweet interpreted by many as a call to eliminate Ukrainians.
"Russia's Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov is calling for the elimination of the Ukrainian nation. This genocidal language must not be tolerated. We call on the entire diplomatic community in Vienna to boycott Ulyanov, and on the host country, Austria - to declare him persona non grata," wrote Oleg Nikolenko, Ukraine's MFA spokesman, on Twitter.
Russia’s Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov is calling for the elimination of the Ukrainian nation. This genocidal language must not be tolerated. We call on the entire diplomatic community in Vienna to boycott Ulyanov, and on the host country, Austria - to declare him persona non grata. pic.twitter.com/tbCTW4dU6s
— Oleg Nikolenko (@OlegNikolenko_) August 20, 2022
Ulyanov caused a stir on Friday evening, writing on Twitter: "No mercy to the Ukrainian population." He responded to a tweet by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanking the US for the latest arms package.
Ulyanov later deleted his post and stated that its content had been misinterpreted.
"I have to apologize. I've forgotten who I'm dealing with. I meant, of course, the United States with their arms deliveries and the Ukrainian President, who declared only yesterday that he was opposed to any peace talks. In fact, no mercy on their part towards the Ukrainian one Population. That’s what I said," wrote the Russian diplomat.
He called attempts to connect his words about Kyiv's politics with a call for genocide "outrageous and absolutely unacceptable." Ulyanov accused the Ukrainian authorities of "not caring about their own population when they categorically reject diplomatic efforts and concentrate exclusively on the accumulation of weapons from the West''.
In July, the Russian Embassy in the UK justified the killing of the Azov soldiers, in a post on Twitter, saying that they deserved "a humiliating death".