In 1994, following his family's tradition of government service, he obtained a position at the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of Ukraine.[citation needed] At that time, the Ministry was expanding rapidly as Ukraine began to negotiate with GATT/WTO.[citation needed]
In 1997, he took a position in the economic section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, where he tried to develop trade with Asian countries.[citation needed] It was the most important task because, at that time, the Ministry initiated negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the GATT/WTO and started to look for new opportunities for Ukrainian business in the markets, especially in Africa and Asia. In 1997, he moved to the Asia-Pacific Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[citation needed]
In 2000, Prystaiko became a consul to Sydney, Australia, where he was involved in political and economic issues.[citation needed]
In 2002, he started working at the Foreign Policy Directorate of the Administration of the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma.[citation needed]
In December 2004, Prystaiko was appointed as a political counselor to the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada. Two years later, he became the acting chargé d'affaires (temporary counsel for Ukraine in Canada).[citation needed]
In 2007, he was a part of Ukraine's NATO negotiating team and served as the Deputy Director-General for NATO in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[citation needed]
In December 2014, he was named Deputy Foreign Minister and head of the apparatus under Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.[13]
He was Head of the Mission of Ukraine to NATO from 7 July 2017 until 29 August 2019.
On 22 May 2019, Prystaiko was appointed Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration by the decree of the President of Ukraine. He was a Member of the National Investment Council (21 June 2019).[14]
On 29 August 2019, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in the Government of Oleksiy Honcharuk.[15] But on 4 March 2020, he was released from the post and appointed Vice Prime Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration in the Government of Denys Shmyhal. On 4 June 2020, he was released from this post.[16][17]
In February 2022, during the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, Prystaiko said UK defence secretary's Ben Wallace's comparison of diplomatic efforts with Russia to the appeasement policies of the 1930s was unhelpful.[20] Prystaiko warned, "There's panic everywhere, not just in people's minds, but in financial markets as well" and it was "hurting the Ukrainian economy on sort of the same level as people leaving the embassy".[21]
On 21 July 2023, Prystaiko was sacked as Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom by President Zelenskyy using a Presidential decree. No reason as to the sacking was given. He was also sacked from his role as the Ukrainian representative to the International Maritime Organization.[22]
Personal life
Prystayko's father Volodymyr Ilyich Pristayko [uk] (1941–2008) was Lieutenant General of Justice and Vice director of the SBU, and in 1991 he started working in a commission of adaptation of laws to EU standards and on rehabilitation of politically repressed. He was an Honored Lawyer of Ukraine.
^УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ № 764/2012 Presidential order on appointment of Prystaiko as Ukrainian representative in the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
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