President of Mexico criticizes US military support for Ukraine

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Monday criticized U.S. military aid to Ukraine, suggesting it was “irrational” and increasing criticism of the war effort, while urging Washington to devote more resources to help Latin America. countries.

López Obrador has long called on the United States to dedicate more funds to help economic development in Central America and the Caribbean to alleviate migration pressures.

During his regular daily press conference, López Obrador criticized the US Congress for not releasing money for the region, before referring to last week’s disputes over a interim financing bill that eliminated more aid for Ukraine.

“I was seeing how now they are not authorizing aid for the war in Ukraine,” he said. “But how much have they allocated to the war in Ukraine? Between 30,000 and 50,000 million dollars for the war. Which is the most irrational thing possible. And harmful.”

“So they do have to modify their strategy and learn to respect; this is not the time for them to ignore the Mexican authorities,” López Obrador added.

Neither the U.S. State Department nor the Ukrainian embassy in Mexico immediately responded to requests for comment.

Leftist López Obrador has tried to keep Mexico neutral in the war and criticized Western military aid to kyiv. He has also proposed peace talks end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Two weeks ago the president defended the presence of a Russian military unit at a weekend parade commemorating Mexico’s independence day, following harsh criticism that its country had given a platform to the forces that invaded Ukraine.

However, his government has backed some important UN resolutions criticizing Russia’s role in the conflict.

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