Ukraine will not accept the newly appointed Russian ambassador, the Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister for European Integration, Olena Zerkal, said Wednesday.



"This issue has been taken off Ukraine's agenda," Zerkal said on Ukraine’s TV 5 Kanal.



Zerkal claimed that the absence of an ambassador will not affect the relations between the two countries. "The previous ambassador had a minimal part in shaping those relations," she said.



President spokesperson Dmitry Peskov earlier announced that Russia had requested to send Mikhail Babich to the country as Russian ambassador to Ukraine. Mikhail Babich, the former presidential envoy to Russia's Volga Federal District, was appointed to the role last week. Putin made the move after relieving former ambassador Mikhail Zurabov of his duties. Zurabov had been ambassador to Ukraine since August, 2009.

