Foreign Affairs PS Ambassador Macharia Kamau meets Ukraine Ambassador to Kenya Andrii Pravednyk on Tuesday, April 19. 2022/ MFA
Ukraine Ambassador to Kenya Andrii Pravednyk on Tuesday finally met Foreign Affairs PS Ambassador Macharia Kamau.
In a dispatch on Twitter, Foreign Affairs ministry said the two discussed “bilateral issues of mutual benefit to Kenya and Ukraine”.
The Ukraine Embassy said, “The meeting discussed a number of important issues of bilateral cooperation, as well as the prospects for further deepening cooperation between Ukraine and Kenya”.
The visit comes after the Ukraine embassy, whose country has been invaded by Russia since February, protested what it said were frustrations in seeking audience with the top leadership of the Foreign Affairs ministry.
This was despite several requests.
A source at the Embassy had said that for two months, Ambassador Pravednyk had been seeking to meet with Kenya’s Foreign Affair Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo or PS Kamau in vain.
“The first Note Verbale requesting a meeting with Amb Omamo was sent before the war on February 14, 2022. It was left without consideration, unfortunately,” the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
“Afterwards, after the war started, we requested an urgent meeting on February 24. Instead of the meeting, Kenya’s MFA offered a 15-minute telephone conversation… We again requested a meeting with Ambassador Omamo on April 11. So we are waiting,” the source said.
The situation was worsened by a move by PS Kamau to meet Russia Ambassador Dmitry Maksimychev on March 12 and posting photos online.
This was just after Kenya permanent representative to the UN Ambassador Martin Kimani condemned the invasion at the UNSC.
Kenya’s Foreign Affairs PS Macharia Kamau and Russia Ambassador Dmitry Maksimychev on March 10, 2022 at the Ministry Headquarters in Nairobi/ MFA
“What do you think that makes us feel? We felt bad. On one hand, they are condemning Russia for butchering innocent women and children. On the other, they are holding meetings and posing for photos with the oppressor,” the source said.
In its defence, the ministry told the Nation that ambassadors await their turn and availability of the Cabinet secretary.
“We have handled his requests and we have records to prove that,” the Foreign Affairs official told the Nation.
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