AMLO to Sputnik: Mexico Sees No Point in Ukraine Peace Talks Without Russia

A number of countries and other international entities ranging from China, Brazil and India to the Vatican have come forward with peace initiatives aimed at bringing the Ukrainian crisis to a close. The latest initiative, proposed by Saudi Arabia, has prompted Moscow to request more information, while Kiev has insisted that Russia is not welcome.

Mexico will be ready to take part in the upcoming Ukraine peace talks hosted by Saudi Arabia only if both sides of the conflict are willing and able to participate, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has told Sputnik.

“If both Ukraine and Russia agree to seek a solution to achieve peace, we will take part – if the parties to the conflict agree and convene (other countries) for this purpose. We are for peace…If the two countries are represented, then yes,” AMLO said during a press conference Monday, answering a question by a Sputnik reporter.

The Mexican leader added that his government would support any initiative where a willingness to come together to hammer out a peaceful resolution to the crisis could be found.

Mexico has joined the majority of countries in the developing world in maintaining staunch neutrality in the Ukrainian crisis, to the irritation of the United States and its allies. “We do not allow them to tell us who we should have relations with and who not,” AMLO said in late 2022.

The Mexican president has also been a major proponent of peace talks. “We don’t want the Russia-Ukraine war to continue, it’s very irrational,” AMLO said at Monday’s presser. “The only thing that benefits from it is the war industry,” he added, noting that Mexico does not want to see the conflict “become commonplace.”

Saudi Peace Talks

US business media reported late last week that Saudi Arabia is planning to hold Ukraine peace talks in Jeddah August 5-6, with officials from over two dozen countries expected to attend, but Russia reportedly not listed among attendees. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated Monday that Russia will seek more information about the purpose of the talks, and would be keeping an eye on them. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Jeddah discussions could prove useful if they strengthened understanding in the West that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s 10-point so-called peace plan, which includes demands that Russia hand over Crimea, is a “dead end.”