WASHINGTON, D.C. – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ambassadors based in the United States have held discussions with Ukrainian diplomats to the United States and the United Nations to review the situation in the European country, where Russia is posed for a military invasion.
Ukrainian soldiers during drills in the Lviv region last week. Moscow continues to build up troop deployments on the Ukraine border (via REUTERS)The meeting Monday was organized and hosted by Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders, who is also the Dean of the Caribbean Diplomatic Corps.
Sir Ronald said the meeting was held in the context of the rising tensions surrounding Ukraine and the implications for global peace and economic stability.
A statement issued after the discussions noted that the Ukraine ambassadors “expressed their appreciation for the meeting, pointing out that even at this late hour, it is necessary for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to realize that the world community would be very distressed over any military action in Ukraine”.
“Ukraine has been an independent country for centuries and has always resisted its annexation by force by the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and Russia,” said Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, adding that her country is committed to resisting any incursions into its territory, and that its people are “prepared to defend its territorial integrity”.
Ambassador Sanders acknowledged that the Ukraine is “the breadbasket for many countries in Europe and the Middle East, and that military conflict would disrupt the supply chain of food, causing shortages and increasing food prices globally”.
He said that the Caribbean region would be very concerned about any military activity that leads to a disruption in oil supplies and an escalation in cost of oil and gas.
The Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsia, thanked CARICOM countries for their defence of the principles of self-determination, sovereignty and territorial integrity that are shared by CARICOM and Ukraine.
“The Ambassadors collectively agreed that their meeting was very useful and committed to consult over the situation,” the statement said.
On Monday, Russia’s top diplomat said that the possibility of a diplomatic resolution to the crisis was “far from exhausted.”
Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov said that he supported continuing negotiations with the West on the “security guarantees” Russia has been demanding of the United States and NATO.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky,said Monday that perhaps the notion of NATO membership “is for us like a dream” suggesting, however vaguely, that his country might make the kind of concessions it has staunchly resisted so far.
Moscow has demanded that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO and has also called for a rollback of NATO forces from across Eastern Europe.
