Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has been on a marathon run finding appropriate podiums to push his narrative of the Ukraine war, and fair to say, the former comedian has been successful in finding many.
Snubbed
To date, Zelensky has addressed several national parliaments as well as regional and international forums since Russia’s invasion of his country in February, including NATO, the G7, the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, and even the Cannes Film Festival.
In the hope of getting the same rousing reception, the president of Ukraine pitched a similar proposal to the South American trade bloc of Mercosur. Zelensky offered the trade bloc an appearance with his trademark olive green tee that he thinks echoes valour.
But Mercosur had different plans as they declined a request by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to address its upcoming summit, host Paraguay said on Wednesday.
Bloc members Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay failed to reach an agreement on Zelensky’s request, made to the host country last week, according to deputy foreign minister Raul Cano, who declined to say which states were against it.
“There was no consensus,” said Cano, adding the decision had been communicated to Kyiv.
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The Ukrainian president pitched his request to address Mercosur leaders on Thursday during a phone call earlier this month with Paraguay’s President Mario Abdo Benitez, whose country is hosting the summit.
One can’t simply put all the blame on Zelensky, since he might have gone deluded reading the earlier statements made by Mercosur back in February. Four founding members of the Mercosur gave statements condemning Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.
The leaders of Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay said the Russian advance on Ukrainian territory constituted an “open violation of the principles and norms of International Law.” They then called for “the immediate withdrawal of the Russian military forces from the Ukrainian territory.”
But over time we have seen how the war has tilted in favour of Russia, and countries once favoured the US made a quick jump to show their allegiance back to Russia. The Latin countries are no different and they have far more good reasons to adhere to Russian policies since Moscow has been continuously delivering the much-needed fertilizer to South American countries that depend largely on agriculture.
Mercosur leaders are scheduled to speak Thursday before the bloc’s six-month presidency passes from Paraguay to Uruguay, and sadly enough, the summit won’t be graced by Zelensky’s presence.
