Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland
Vadym Prystaiko is a Ukrainian career diplomat currently serving as Ukraine's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom. He was appointed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 20 July 2020. Presented his Credentials to King Charles III on October 20, 2022.
Political career: Ambassador Prystaiko held the positions of Vice-Prime-Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration (2020) and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2019-2020).
Education: He studied at Ukraine’s leading technical university - the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, where he got a degree in computer science. Later on, he also received a master’s degree from the Ukrainian State Academy of International Trade.
Professional career: In the early 90-th as a part of a small group of fellow IT students and more experienced professionals Vadym Prystaiko launched a start-up - one of the first Ukrainian Internet providers and electronic media “Electronni Visti”.
Following the family tradition of serving the State, Vadym left the private business to join the Government at the Ministry of Economic Relations and International Trade (1994-1997, Home trade and later Asia and Pacific Directorates).
In 1997 Vadym assumed a number of jobs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Far East Division, NATO Directorate, etc. ending up in the position of the Deputy Minister-Chief of Staff of the Ministry (equivalent to the Permanent Secretary, 2014-2017) and the First Deputy Minister (2017).
Twice Ambassador Prystaiko worked at the President’s Office, advising on foreign policy and international security, including as a Deputy Chief of Staff of President V.Zelenskyy, his Foreign Policy Advisor.
Foreign Diplomatic Missions: Vadym represented Ukraine in a number of nations including Australia (consul at the Consulate-General in Sydney, 1999-2001), the United States (deputy ambassador, 2009-2012), twice in Canada (counsellor 2002-2006, Ambassador and Representative to ICAO (2012-2014), NATO (Head of Mission, 2017-2019).
Vadym Prystaiko was born on February 20, 1970, in Ukraine’s southern region of Odesa. Eventually, his family settled in Kyiv. Vadym is married to Inna Prystaiko with two sons Volodymyr and Andriy, born in 1997 and 2001. Vadym is fluent in English, passionate about water sports and cycling. He also holds a 2nd Dan black belt in Taekwondo.