From Guatemala, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba demanded this week the support of Latin America to reject the invasion of Russia and said that the “neutrality” of some countries allows “aggression” to continue.
His words were given on Thursday in the framework of his visit to Guatemala, where he was invited to participate in the IX Summit of Heads of State and/or Government of the Association of Caribbean States.
His trip also comes just weeks after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s tour of Latin America, in which he visited Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua and in which war and Western sanctions occupied much of the the agenda.
During your visit, Kuleba criticized that some countries in the region “believe that the best way to act is to remain neutral.” in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia”, while others “say that this war is Europe’s problem and that they have nothing to do with it”. “By maintaining a neutral attitude, it encourages Russia to continue its aggression,” he said.
Kuleba asked Latin American countries to “follow the example of Guatemala” and support the creation of a special international tribunal to be in charge of judging war crimes committed in the conflict with Russia.
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At the ACS summit I encouraged Caribbean colleagues to join the implementation of @ZelenskyyUa‘s Peace Formula as the path to peace. I also proposed to boost cooperation on food security, combating climate change, cyber security, digitalization, and people to people contacts. pic.twitter.com/EExEG3Kh3d
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) May 11, 2023
The chancellor’s trip is historic, as This is the first visit in the history of a Ukrainian foreign minister to Guatemala. And that nation has been one of the few Latin American countries that have shown their support for Ukraine since the Russian invasion on February 24 of last year.
In fact, five months after the start of the war, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei visited Kiev to show solidarity with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelenski, becoming the first Latin American president to visit that country since the start of the invasion.
Kuleba’s is also the first official trip by a head of Ukrainian diplomacy to Latin America in a decade. His trip is part of the Ukrainian Government’s intention to intensify its bilateral relations with Latin American countries and in its attempt to attract support in this part of the world.
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President Volodimir Zelensky already made it clear on February 24, on the first anniversary of the war, when He raised the need to organize a summit with Latin American countries to help put an end to the Russian invasion. On that occasion, Zelensky reaffirmed that his country seeks to get closer to the region to counteract Moscow’s influence.
Also in February, Kuleba himself revealed to regional media a change in Ukrainian foreign policy strategy towards Latin America and his intention to increase his diplomatic presence in the region. “President Zelensky has decided to begin a process of deepening economic, political, cultural and humanitarian ties with the region,” the chancellor said then.
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The truth is that both the Ukrainian government and the United States government, kyiv’s main ally, they would like Latin America to join the sanctions imposed on Moscow for the war or to cede military equipment to Ukraine, especially the weapons and ammunition that are on the continent from the Soviet Union. “We would be grateful if you would give us weapons free of charge as a sign of support. If not, we would also be willing to buy them,” Kuleba has said in the past.
By maintaining a neutral attitude, it encourages Russia to continue its aggression.
But the large regional economies, such as Argentina, Mexico, Colombia or Brazil, remain in their position and refuse to sanction the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. And the countries that have Russian weapons do not intend to cede it to Ukraine either.
For this reason, after Kuleba’s first visit to the continent, which only takes him to Guatemala (for now), contacts between Ukraine and Latin America are expected to become increasing and that kyiv’s efforts to gain allies on the other side of the world are intensified.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
TIME
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