Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk prompted a wave of outrage on Twitter, as he spewed out foul language and disdainful comments responding to an initiative by several German politicians to lend a hand in the Ukraine peace process.
The diplomat told the authors of the initiative, including historian Peter Brandt, the son of former Chancellor Willy Brandt, to "go to hell," calling it "absurd" and stating that "all" Ukrainians reject such calls.
One social media user let Melnyk have it: "Then fight your bloody war alone! What's your son doing? Still not at the front?"
"Is your son already on the frontline or still in Berlin?" another user chimed in, taking a swipe at him, insinuating that his conscript-aged family member was hiding in the German capital from the hostilities.
"And you're actually a diplomat? Wow, I didn't know primates got that status," said another user, tearing into Melnyk's professional "diplomacy" skills.
"It's not the Ukrainians, your corrupt leadership clique rejects it. We'll wait and see (it will eventually happen) when the USA stops protecting you, then it's over in a moment. By the way, everything speaks for it, see Iraq, Libya, etc," one netizen said about the overall situation in Ukraine and its dependence on Washington.
Previously, Peter Brandt wrote an open letter to German Chancellor Scholz, which was backed by 200 members of the Social Democratic Party, calling for peaceful negotiations to resolve the situation in Ukraine. The letter's authors argue that the majority of German citizens do not support the endless escalation of violence, and instead of militarism - diplomacy and peace are inevitable.