Olena Zerkal, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine claimed her intentions to leave the office - something she has been planning for a while. The diplomat said so in a show at Channel 24.
"This week, I will fulfill my final task, I'll hold the hearing in the Hague under the new arbitrary case, which concerns our ships detained last year and held in Russia, and our sailors. And that's it, like I said", Zerkal said.
She said she wanted to "take a break" and named some other reasons for such a decision. When asked if she wanted to stay in the Foreign Ministry, as part of the system that would resist Russian aggression. "I cannot resist being a diplomat at the Foreign Ministry, which complies with the President's decision", she replied.
The diplomat was offered to work at the President's Office, but she refused and stayed in the Ministry; her team's most notable achievement in Ukraine's diplomacy over the last five years was a success in the Hague, when the court ruled that Russia must release Ukrainian sailors.