Toqayev Receives Credentials from New Ambassadors, Including Ukraine’s Viktor Mayko

Qasym-Jomart Toqayev received the credentials of ambassadors from eight countries at Aqorda, formally granting them authority to represent their nations in Kazakhstan, Orda.kz reports.

Among them was Ukraine’s newly appointed envoy, Viktor Mayko.

According to Aqorda, alongside Mayko, credentials were presented by the UN Permanent Representative and ambassadors from India, Algeria, Sweden, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Latvia, and Georgia. President Toqayev congratulated the diplomats on officially beginning their missions in Kazakhstan.

Viktor Mayko began his work in Astana in late June, when Deputy Foreign Minister Yermukhambet Konuspayev accepted a copy of his credentials. The 65-year-old diplomat had previously served as Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkmenistan.

He was appointed ambassador to Kazakhstan in early April.

Before his diplomatic career, Mayko worked as a journalist and science editor, led several commercial enterprises, and served in Ukraine’s Ministry of Trade. From 2010 to 2014, he was Deputy Foreign Minister, and between 2014 and 2020, he was an adviser to the minister.

Ukraine had no official ambassador in Kazakhstan since October 2022, when Mayko’s predecessor, Pyotr Vrublevsky, left the post. Vrublevsky had sparked controversy after giving an interview with hostile remarks about Russians, which led the Kazakh Foreign Ministry to declare him undesirable.

He was recalled to Kyiv and later dismissed. In Russia, Vrublevsky was convicted in absentia of inciting ethnic discord.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny