MFA Ukraine comments on Nobel Foundation retracting Russia invitation

The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko, called the Nobel Foundation's decision to cancel the invitation to the Nobel Prize awarding ceremony to ambassadors from Russia and Belarus “a victory for humanism.”

He wrote about this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

"The Nobel Foundation annulled its decision to invite the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus to the Nobel Prize awarding ceremony in Stockholm. We thank everyone who demanded that justice be restored," Nikolenko emphasized.

In his opinion, "a similar decision should be made regarding the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors in Oslo."

As reported earlier, the Nobel Foundation retracted its invitation for ambassadors of Russia, Belarus, and Iran to attend the annual awarding ceremony in Oslo.

The Nobel Foundation said its decision to invite all ambassadors to the Nobel Prize award ceremony provoked “strong reactions", which led them to walk back on inviting Russia, Belarus, Iran, and Sweden's far-right party.

Earlier, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reacted to the Foundation's move to invite Russia, saying that he was very surprised by the decision and that he would have avoided inviting an aggressor country if he had been dealing with the issue.

Representatives of three Swedish parties immediately announced a boycott of the ceremony after the Foundation decided to invite a representative of the Russian Federation.

Also, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna criticized the Nobel Foundation for inviting Russians and Belarusians to the upcoming Nobel Prize banquet in Stockholm, Sweden.