“It is not a free forum, it will extend the war”

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petrohas canceled at the last minute his participation in the Ukraine Peace Summitwhich takes place this weekend in Switzerland, claiming that the summit will extend the war. “We are willing to participate in conferences that freely dedicate themselves to seeking the paths of peace and no to building blocks for war“Petro added.

“The scene of the Swiss forum It is not a free forum to discuss the paths to peace between Russia and Ukraine. Your conclusions are already predetermined. Most of Latin America and the Government of Colombia do not agree with extending the war,” the president said in his X account from Sweden, where he is on an official visit.

The president added: “I suspend my trip to the meeting in Switzerland and ask Europe to debate the paths to shorten the war and not to extend it. The dialogue between Russia and Ukraine is fundamental.” The president, who will return to Colombia today, has assured that Latin America wants “both suspension of the genocide of the Palestinian people how to find the difficult paths to resolve the war between Ukraine and Russia”.

During the conference in the Swiss town of Bürgenstock, the Colombian president was also scheduled to meet for the first time with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The interview with Zelensky was important because until now the Colombian president has avoided taking sides in favor of Ukraine and, unlike the war in Gaza where he condemns Israel’s attacks almost daily, he has refrained from doing the same with Russia.

Even at the People’s Summit held in July last year in the European Parliament, Petro said that he would not know whether to support Russia or the United States in international geopolitics because, in his opinion, they are “the same thing.”