Vadym Prystaiko, former Ukrainian ambassador to London and earlier foreign minister, has revealed details of a blueprint as Putin was planning an illegal invasion in February 2022
Vadym Prystaiko on secret plan to move Ukrainian capital from Kyiv to London
Ukraine drew up a secretive plan to move Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s entire government to London – as Vladimir Putin was poised to invade the country.
Vadym Prystaiko, former Ukrainian ambassador to London and earlier foreign minister, has revealed details of a blueprint while Putin was planning an illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Then posted as envoy to the UK, he admitted the contingency plan.
“As far as our work in London is concerned, we actually proactively wanted to offer the [Ukrainian] government a place to continue our work at the time of possible search for a place,” he said. “When we talked to our colleagues in Britain, no one talked about a government in exile. They talked about the continuation of the [Ukrainian] government [from London].
“Even in English, there was such a phrase….” He said: “This was not a decision of the Ukrainian government. It was my proposal at the time, if needed.” As the invasion came on 25 February 2024, President Volodymyr Zelensky famously refused Western advice urging to seek a safe haven.
“I need ammunition, not a ride,” he said, with Vladimir Putin expecting to take and tame Kyiv in three days. Zelensky’s defiance inspired Ukrainians to defend their country, and the West to back Kyiv with weapons and money.
Putin’s forces were initially forced to make a humiliating retreat. Prystaiko said his proposal about using London ahead of other possible locations for the legitimate Ukrainian government – if forced into exile – was made in early February when he accompanied then premier Boris Johnson on a trip to Kryiv.
The aim was to be able to relocate “all the precious metals, papers, money” from Kyiv to London so that the Ukrainian government could organise and fund opposition to a Putin invasion. On his February 2022 trip to Kyiv, Johnson warned of “the biggest security crisis that Europe has faced for decades”.
