RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Paraguayan Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo reiterated his country’s position condemning the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity but dismissed the possibility of breaking off diplomatic relations with Russia.
“Withdrawal and severance of diplomatic relations do not seem reasonable to me,” the official told local radio Ñandutí when asked about Volodímir Zelenski’s demand that most countries sever relations with Moscow.
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The severance of diplomatic relations, he said, was contrary to what was being sought, namely “negotiations and peace.”
In his opinion, “we should try to achieve the restoration of international law as soon as possible” and respect the Minsk agreements.
As for Paraguay’s position on the situation between Moscow and Kyiv believes that “it is nothing but consistent with its pacifist line of non-aggression and diplomatic resolution of conflicts and, of course, condemns the invasion and violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
He also informed that Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez, who holds the temporary presidency of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), proposed to issue a joint statement of the bloc, first in favor of a diplomatic solution to the conflict and then condemning what he considers an invasion. Still, he did not have Brazil’s support.
In the Prosur (Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America), Acevedo added that Brazil had “the same veto in quotation marks.”
Paraguay has suspended the supply of meat to Russia due to rising tensions in the region.
The Chancellor said that Paraguay is working to enter the North American market and expand it to other countries.
In any case, he said, they do not want to neglect trade with Russia. That is why his country is calling for a ceasefire for the sake of human lives but is also committed to resolving the conflict so that it can continue doing business with Moscow.
He concluded by addressing the nationals living in Ukraine, stating that the two people who wanted to leave the country had done so, while those who stayed were there because they wanted to.
Regarding Paraguayan students living in Russia, he informed that those in conflict areas had been evacuated in Moscow and that none of them wanted to leave the Eurasian country.
On Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation in eastern Ukraine after recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics as independent and responding to a request for assistance from authorities due to ongoing bombardment by Kyiv.
Putin asserted that the goal was to protect the people who “have suffered eight years of harassment and genocide at the hands of the Kyiv regime.”