(CNN Spanish) — The presidents of Colombia and Mexico have made their position on Russia’s war in Ukraine clear: they do not agree with it, peace must be sought and they will not participate in the war in any way. And in its attempt to stay away from the war, and even reject it, Russia ended up hailing, separately, its non-interference in favor of either.
At a key moment in the war between Russia and Ukraine, when the West has announced that it will send war tanks to Kyiv —Germany said it will send Leopard 2 tanks and the US, Abrams tanks— Colombia and Mexico have rejected such a measure.
(Credit: Getty Images)
What Petro said about arms to Ukraine
The first statement in this sense was given by the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, this Tuesday in his speech at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac). Petro said that Colombia has Russian-made weapons acquired by previous governments, and that in “some conversation” with representatives of the United States government, they asked him to hand over those weapons to send them to Ukraine, to which he said no.
“I told him that our constitution has as an order, in the international arena, peace. And even if that was left as scrap metal in Colombia, we did not hand over Russian weapons so that they could take that to Ukraine to continue a war,” Petro said this week in Buenos Aires.
“It does not mean that we are not worried about aggression,” added Petro, assuring that the way forward must be an indictment before the International Criminal Court for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Aggression must be an international crime,” he said.
And, supporting a negotiated solution to the conflict, and saying that his support is for peace, Petro assured that his government is not aligned with either of the two countries at war.
“We are not with anyone. We are with peace. That is why no useless existing Russian weapon is going to be used in that conflict,” he said.
In response, the Russian embassy in Colombia “assessed” that the country did not deliver weapons that were destined for Ukraine. “We consider that such a position is realistic and fully corresponds to the national interests of Colombia,” the Russian embassy commented in a tweet.
???? We highly value President Gustavo Petro’s statements that Russian military equipment used by the National Army ???????? will not be delivered to Ukraine.
We consider that such a position is realistic and fully corresponds to the national interests of Colombia. pic.twitter.com/SosF8dAMy5— Russia in Colombia (@RusiaColombia) January 25, 2023
What AMLO said about German tanks
Meanwhile, a similar comment was echoed in Mexico on Wednesday, this time rejecting Germany’s shipment of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
A brief comment by the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, at the beginning of his usual morning press conference resounded in the Russian embassy in Mexico. AMLO, who was talking about “the power” that the media have over governments, assured that it was because of their “pressure” that Germany ended up sending war tanks to Ukraine.
“For example, Germany did not want to get too involved in the war in Russia and Ukraine, and against the population of Germany, or the majority of Germans, the government decides to send more weapons to Ukraine, due to pressure from the media. of German communication”, AMLO said this Wednesday.
AMLO’s words earned him a comment from the Russian embassy in Mexico in which he thanked the president for his position on the shipment of weapons to Ukraine.
“We thank @lopezobrador_ for his open and clear position on the supply of German tanks to the territory of Ukraine. We hope that no one has any doubts that there is currently a direct clash between the free West and Russia. You know what will happen with these tanks,” the Russian embassy tweeted.
????Thanks to @lopezobrador_ for his open and clear position on the supply of German tanks to the territory of Ukraine
We hope that no one doubts that there is currently a direct clash between the free West and Russia
You know what will happen to these tanks pic.twitter.com/PTfHhALdMd— Embassy of Russia in Mexico (@EmbRusiaMexico) January 25, 2023
for months, López Obrador has rejected Russia’s war in Ukraine and he has said that his government’s position is to “reject, condemn any invasion.”
In September 2022, the Mexican Foreign Minister, Marcelo Ebrard, presented to the United Nations Security Council the initiative announced by López Obrador to find a solution to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
ebrard spoke of a “committee for dialogue and peace in Ukraine with the participation of other heads of state and government”, and said that the objective would be to generate new mechanisms for dialogue and create mediation spaces “that foster trust, reduce frictions and pave the way for lasting peace”.
Germany and the United States announced this week that they will start sending war tanks to Ukraine for their fight against Russia.
As CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh wrotethe decision is very important because “unlike anti-aircraft defense systems or anti-tank missiles, they are not defensive weapons”, but are designed to “hit hard” Russian troops in a ground offensive, something that does a year was unimaginable and now it could be the much greater escalation of a war in which the West is entering little by little.