MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday invited Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to take part in an event supporting Ukrainian victims of the conflict with Russia, amid criticism that Mexico has been too accommodating to Moscow.
During a phone call, Trudeau asked Lopez Obrador to participate in the “Stand Up for Ukraine” campaign event on Saturday to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people, the Canadian government said.
Trudeau is co-convening the event with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Lopez Obrador has tried to remain neutral in the conflict and has declined to impose sanctions against Russia. While his government backed a United Nations vote urging Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine, it has also criticized Europe for sending arms to other countries – as it has for Ukraine.
Last month, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico expressed concern at a public display of solidarity between the Russian ambassador to Mexico and a group of Mexican lawmakers at the inauguration of a Mexico-Russia friendship committee.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Mexico, Oksana Dramaretska, on Sunday posted images of corpses on streets of Ukraine and tweeted at Lopez Obrador: “Do you really want to continue friendly relations with those in the Kremlin who are committing genocide after this?”
Lopez Obrador has not commented publicly on the tweet.
Dramaretska posted the tweet after the bodies of civilians shot at close range were discovered in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
Ukraine has called the killings Russian war crimes. Russia denied targeting civilians and described evidence presented as a “monstrous forgery” staged by the West to discredit it.
Canada’s government said Lopez Obrador and Trudeau also discussed their concerns about the humanitarian impact of the conflict and global challenges stemming from it, including those related to energy and food security.
(Reporting by Dave Graham; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler)
