Opposition Chief Dr Godwin Friday says it seems as if St Vincent and the Grenadines is getting used “like propaganda for Russia” as he responded to the discussions held final week between Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves and Russian International Minister, Sergei Lavrov, in Venezuela.
“The picture of that right now is as if we have gotten like propaganda for Russia,” Friday stated on his weekly radio program, including “That is one thing that we are able to’t afford for the picture of our nation and for the prime minister of our nation.
The Opposition Chief stated that he is aware of that St Vincent and the Grenadines has to “take care of nations everywhere in the world…however to have a state of affairs the place you’re standing up there and making joint statements at a time when the actual matter of significant concern in that nation is the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the persevering with struggle there.
“I hope that was a matter that was the primary matter of debate, however it didn’t come out in any of what I noticed in that article,” Friday stated.
Gonsalves, who is because of inform Caribbean Neighborhood (CARICOM) leaders on Thursday relating to his assembly with the Russian overseas minister, stated that Lavrov was touring Latin America and held talks in Brazil with President Lula da Silva “about placing collectively what you name a membership of nations of and for peace to see if we are able to have the matter, this struggle in Ukraine…”
He stated the Russia-Ukraine struggle is “happening too lengthy and there’s an excessive amount of struggling there by the combatants, an excessive amount of cash is spent on it by NATO, lives misplaced, accidents, dislocations and the knock-on impact of what’s happening there and the sanctions which comply with, the knock-on financial impact — rising costs, rising rates of interest, making life more durable for folks”.
Gonsalves stated the continuing battle, which started in February 2022, “is a matter of nice significance and I’ve organized that I can go and converse to the overseas minister of the Russian Federation exactly on this very query of peace”.
However Godwin Friday informed his radio listeners that “you possibly can’t simply be standing up there and saying that you’re buddies and so forth with nations and displaying your political leanings, leftist political leanings a method or one other.
“In these conditions, you need to look out for the pursuits of the folks of St Vincent and the Grenadines regardless of your personal private emotions,” he stated including that the island awaits extra details about the assembly.
“And I need to know the way is it that you just didn’t hear him, Ralph, bragging about it and speaking about it, as he usually does? And it is a state of affairs that we’ve to watch very fastidiously to be sure that our title of the nation… St Vincent and Grenadines is just not squandered and we don’t be perceived as being intently aligned with a authorities that 143 nations on the UN condemned its referendum and annexation of a part of Ukraine territory, even St Vincent and the Grenadines voted for that decision.
“So why are we then now seeming to present political cowl or propaganda to Russia by having these joint conferences and declarations from St Vincent and Grenadines. That’s one thing we’ve to take a look at very fastidiously and also you’ll hear me converse extra about it as I have a look at the circumstances extra totally,” Friday added.