Ken Salazar assured that “can never happen” a close relationship between Mexico and Russia

This is due to the reception of the Mexican deputies to the Russian Ambassador to Mexico, Viktor Koronelli, on March 23 in the House to establish the Mexico-Russia friendship group. Faced with this, Salazar said:

“I ask you as the deputies who are so strong (...) that what Russia did, attacking Ukraine, is an attack on the freedom and way of life of all of us.”

At another time, the diplomat recalled the alliance that Mexico and the United States would have demonstrated during World War II against Adolf Hitler's regime in Germany: “There was no distance,” he said.

Hence he made a call to maintain that union that the nations demonstrated in 1939-1945, but with the invasion currently orchestrated by the country led by Vladimir Putin - and which, he said, “I never thought I would see it”.

“When a family is attacked, the family joins. Here we talk about the friendship group. There can be no difference, we have to do what they did in World War II,” he concluded.

Even though Mexico condemned the entry of the Russian army into Ukraine, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has expressed himself reluctant to sanction the Russian Federation because, he argued, because his Government prioritizes stability in diplomatic relations.

“We are not going to take any economic reprisals because we want to maintain good relations with all the governments of the world,” he said on March 1.

This position is in sharp contrast to that of his counterpart, Joe Biden, from the United States, who has not hesitated to apply a series of penalties to Russia, as well as to attack acidly against Vladimir Putin - whom he described as “a war criminal”.

Among the sanctions are the prohibition of attracting Western funds to repay sovereign debt; sanctions against banks and “elites” of the country; total blockade of financial institutions; among others.

What is a friendship group

A friendship group is a form of committee or legislative commission that has among its objectives the monitoring and attention of bilateral links with assemblies, congresses, parliaments or other bodies of popular representation of countries with which Mexico has diplomatic relations.

The validity of these groups is tied to the legislature within which they are formed, and can be established once the next legislature begins in the Mexican Congress of the Union.

The most recent group installed was that of Mexico-People's Republic of China only on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The president was Morena's deputy, Yeidckol Polevnsky, who stressed that this Asian nation is the country's second largest trading partner.

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