Ukraine No-Show At Opening Of New US Embassy In Israel

On May 14, President Trump’s controversial decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem came into fruition.

On the day of the opening ceremony, clashes broke out between the Israeli armed forces and Palestinians, resulting in the deaths of 60 Palestinian protesters. Photo credit: EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABER

The international community has largely condemned the decision. As a result, the Israeli Foreign Ministry reported that, out of the 86 countries with diplomatic missions in Israel that were invited to the ceremony, only 33 confirmed, according to Al Jazeera.

Ukraine was reportedly one of the countries which had confirmed its attendance.

However, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mariana Betsa stated in her comment to Hromadske that she was unaware of any Ukrainian representatives being present at the opening ceremony.

Photo credit: EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABER

Betsa also emphasized the fact that Ukraine’s position on the status of Jerusalem remains unchanged. As it states on the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website:

“Ukraine supports full compliance with international law norms, as well as the necessity of implementing the corresponding resolutions made by the UN Security Council on the status of Jerusalem.”

Photo credit: EPA-EFE/MOHAMMED SABER

The Ukrainian embassy in Israel also commented to Hromadske that the Ukrainian ambassador to Israel Hennadiy Nadolenko had received an invitation to the opening ceremony of the US embassy in Jerusalem, but did not take part in the event and was in Tel-Aviv at the time.

At the same time, the Ukrainian embassy also stated that “the Ukrainian side is concerned about the escalation on the Israeli border with the Gaza strip and deplores the human cost of the confrontations between Israeli security forces and protest participants.”