Speaking to a committee of MPs on Wednesday, Vadym Prystaiko appeared to admit people had suffered bigotry while trying to get on trains leaving cities. But he argued Ukrainians aren't racist and foreigners simply ‘stick out’ in their society.
Interrogated about the incidents by the Home Affairs Select Committee, he replied: ‘It has been raised many times. Ukraine is a very homogenic [sic] society and not many people with different races on the streets. Foreigners do stick out of the crowd it doesn’t mean we are racist.
‘Maybe we will put all foreigners in some other place so they won’t be visible and there won’t be conflict with Ukrainians trying to flee in the same direction. This is something that has to be taken care of and we will be doing it.’Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba first addressed the issue last week, tweeting: ‘Africans seeking evacuation are our friends and need to have equal opportunities to return to their home countries safely. Ukraine’s government spares no effort to solve the problem.
The ambassador mainly used Wednesday’s appearance to drive home criticism of the UK’s sluggish visa regime for Ukrainians, while suggesting Britain was already struggling to cope with a ‘flood’ of people fleeing wars in the Middle East.
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