Ukrainians have reacted with bemusement, mild irritation and irony to Ben Wallace’s notorious comments that the country should be more grateful for the help it is receiving from the UK and other allies as it fights off Russian aggression.
Kyiv previously regarded Wallace as a staunch supporter and friend. His remarks – on the second day of the Nato summit in Lithuania last week – mystified officials. “Whether we like it or not, people want to see a bit of gratitude,” Wallace said, asked about President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s frustration at not being given a formal invitation to join Nato.
Wallace said Ukraine’s brusque treatment of allies was counter-productive, especially with sceptical politicians in the US Congress and elsewhere. “I told them that last year, when I drove 11 hours to be given a list, that I’m not like Amazon,” he said. He suggested Kyiv’s demands for weapons were insatiable, with more asked for as soon as one system was provided.
In Ukraine there was uncertainty as to whether Wallace’s intervention reflected No 10 policy – something Rishi Sunak later made clear was not the case. One former deputy from Ukraine’s parliament, the Rada, asked the Observer if the “lack of gratitude” comment was a manifestation of England’s baffling class system? “We don’t understand,” they admitted. Ukrainian Twitter, meanwhile, lit up with joking memes.
The capital’s motherland monument – a 62m tall stainless steel statue of a woman holding a sword, which looms over the Dnipro river – is about to get a new symbol. The Ukrainian trident will replace the Soviet hammer and sickle on the statue’s giant shield. Max Shcherbyna, a Ukrainian living in Toronto, posted a mocked-up photo with a different message on the famous trident: “Thank you, Ben Wallace,” written in Ukrainian. The tweet garnered 9,000 likes. Other Ukrainians tweeted a gif of the minister’s face, in the centre of a mirror, and surrounded by roses and falling petals. It read sardonically: “Thank you, Ben!”
Дякуємо Бен Воллес, що ми маємо змогу прожити ще один четвер. pic.twitter.com/9M2B09IsEq
— CHILLSON (@chills0n) July 13, 2023
• ‘Thank you Ben Wallace’ in Max Shcherbyna’s tweet
Zelenskiy took to social media himself to say it was “absurd” for Kyiv to be told it would be welcome in the Nato alliance but without a date or conditions. There was understanding that joining was impossible while war with Russia raged – that would mean a direct conflict between Nato and Moscow – but there was frustration too at the lack of a route map, and at the summit’s vaguely worded final communiqué.
Wallace, who last night announced that he is to quit his post at the next reshuffle and will not stand in the general election, has told friends he was “misquoted”. He portrays his remarks as well-meant message to Kyiv: that it can’t just talk to its supporters, such as the UK. It also needs to reach out to sceptical Americans and Europeans. A substantial minority think Ukraine should stop fighting and accept a peace deal with Russia, he points out.
Zelenskiy, a former comedian, subsequently made light of the semi-rift with London and Washington in Vilnius. He said he was “grateful to all leaders of Nato countries” for their support and security assistance. In a packed press conference, he said Ukrainians and the British had wonderful relations, both among ordinary citizens and on a government-to-government level.
He shouted over to his defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, who was sitting at the back of the hall, and asked him playfully: “Oleksii! You are here. Do you have bad relations with the defence minister?”
Reznikov bellowed back: “Amazing!” Switching from Ukrainian to English, a smiling Zelenskiy said: “That’s great. You have to call him. Please.” There was laughter.
In an interview with the Observer in Kyiv, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, Oleksiy Danilov, said Wallace’s comments did not reflect British government policy. They came from a surfeit of “emotion”. Nor did they correspond to what Wallace himself – a frequent visitor to Ukraine – really thought about the situation. “I know for sure that is not his position. And with all respect to Mr Wallace, he doesn’t decide everything,” Danilov added. “It’s natural to be emotional. Everyone gets like this.”
Asked if the minister regretted what he had said, about the UK not being an “Amazon warehouse”, Danilov replied: “Probably, yes.”
He and other senior figures from the Zelenskiy government are keen to stress Ukraine’s genuinely close partnership with the UK. Boris Johnson – a near-pariah at home – remains an extremely popular figure, whose support during the dark early days of Putin’s invasion was seen as crucial.
Danilov said Johnson was the first foreign leader to call Zelenskiy on 24 February 2022 when Russian tanks crossed the border from Belarus and advanced towards Kyiv. The two leaders spoke practically every day. The UK provided anti-tank weapons and other forms of assistance, some of it not made public, he said.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which began in June, has made slow progress so far. Troops have struggled to advance against entrenched Russian positions and through dense mine fields. Zelenskiy has repeatedly called for the west to supply him with F-16s, including last week. These are likely to be delivered next year, too late for the current advance.
The UK’s delivery of long-range Storm Shadow missiles has made a difference on the battlefield, with Ukraine able to target Russian command centres and weapons dumps far from the frontline. Last week, a British missile reportedly killed a high-ranking Russian general, Lt Gen Oleg Tsokov, when it hit a hostel in the occupied port of Berdiansk.
“If everyone had helped us as much as Britain helps us, we would have a totally different situation now,” Danilov said. “Particularly thanks to London, we were able to withstand the very first period of the war.” He cited the British destroyer Defender, which in 2021 sailed near the coast of Crimea, outraging Moscow, and showing that the water legally belonged to Ukraine.
Державна інспекція архітектури та містобудування дозволила замінити герб СРСР на щиті монумента «Батьківщина-Мати» pic.twitter.com/SRlrwMz6ub
— Макс Щербина (@max_shcherbyna) July 13, 2023
• Kyiv’s Motherland monument shield bearing the legend: ‘Thanks Ben Wallace’
Some Ukrainians feel Zelenskiy’s blunt speaking can be counterproductive, alienating allies. Others say that in a war situation, where Ukrainian soldiers are dying every day, and with nightly Russian rocket attacks, there is no time for nicety. “We are very tired. Sometimes trivial things annoy us,” one commander said.
The president looks older, more than 16 months after Putin’s onslaught, but his personality is unchanged, observers add.
“Zelenskiy has a sense of humour. He’s still quite informal. He always has been, throughout his presidency,” one western diplomat observed. “He’s comfortable in the job. And he is someone who doesn’t take anything for granted.”
