Europe

CELAC blames EU leaders for the “disproportionate” focus on Ukraine and urges a negotiated peace

BRUSSELS, 17 Jul. () –

The current president of CELAC, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, criticized this Monday in Brussels the “disproportionate emphasis” that the leaders of the European Union have given to Ukraine to the detriment of other international conflicts and It has demanded a negotiated peace that puts an end to the conflict caused by Russia’s aggression.

“I am aware that the Member States may have understandable concern about the situation in Ukraine,” said the Caribbean leader at the first EU-CELAC summit that has been held in eight years – promoted by the Spanish presidency of the Council -, and that Gonsalves has not wanted to contaminate this debate for which he considers that there are other “more relevant” forums.

In his opening speech, he proposed resorting to “mature diplomacy” between the contending parties to end the war even if the result is not “completely satisfactory” for any of them, since he gives preference to “mutually agreed dissatisfaction”.

Gonsalves has thus urged to end the conflict because, as he recalled, the war “continues to consume abundant treasures” and causing “unnecessary” deaths, while the world economy is also “bleeding out”, since the war “causes enormous suffering to the poor in distant lands due to rising food and fuel prices.

“What happens in Ukraine is of permanent importance not only for the combatants, but for all of humanity, so it is reasonable to demand the cessation of hostilities and a negotiated peace,” he stressed.

However, he has taken advantage of the international forum that Brussels has offered him to remember that Ukraine “is not the only place of war and conflict” and that there are others who “also demand a peaceful solution”, among which he has listed the inhabitants of Haiti, the Palestinian people or the populations of various parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

These, the Caribbean leader added, “are more immediate challenges and ask questions about the disproportionate global emphasis given to Ukraine”, for which reason he has also called for the attention of the member states in these areas.

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