KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday he was worried US President Donald Trump’s push to take Greenland could be diverting focus away from Russia’s invasion, now approaching its four-year mark.
Trump last week threatened European nations with tariffs of up to 25 percent for opposing his plans to acquire Greenland, drawing anger from Brussels and putting the NATO military alliance under unprecedented strain.
Ukraine, which is currently battling a wave of Russian strikes on its energy infrastructure, is keen to avoid a dispute that could fracture unity among its Western allies.
“I’m worried about any loss of focus during a full-scale war,” Zelensky told reporters.
He added that the dispute surrounding Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory, and the Ukraine war should not be seen as “interchangeable.”
“We have a full-scale war, we have a specific aggressor, and we have specific victims,” he said.
He also called for Washington to engage in diplomacy with Europe.
“I want very, very much America to hear Europe, to truly hear it in the format of diplomacy. I think that’s what will happen and I strongly believe there won’t be any major threats,” he said.
Zelensky ‘worried’ Greenland row diverting focus from Ukraine war
https://arab.news/4c4jy
Zelensky ‘worried’ Greenland row diverting focus from Ukraine war
- Ukraine is keen to avoid a dispute that could fracture unity among its Western allies
- “I’m worried about any loss of focus during a full-scale war,” Zelensky said
Brazil’s Lula accuses Trump of seeking to forge ‘new UN’
- Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs
- Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts
BRASILIA: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused Donald Trump on Friday of trying to create “a new UN” with his proposed “Board of Peace.”
The veteran leftist joins other world leaders who have avoided signing up for Trump’s new global conflict resolution organization, where a permanent seat costs $1 billion and the chairman is Trump himself.
“Instead of fixing” the United Nations, “what’s happening? President Trump is proposing to create a new UN where only he is the owner,” Lula said.
Trump unveiled his “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos Thursday, joined on stage by leaders and officials from 19 countries to sign its founding charter.
Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs.
His remarks come a day after he spoke by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who urged his counterpart to safeguard the “central role” of the United Nations in international affairs.
In his remarks on Friday, Lula said “the UN charter is being torn.”
Although originally intended to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.
Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts.
London balked at the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces are fighting in Ukraine after invading in 2022.
France said the charter as it currently stood was “incompatible” with its international commitments, especially its UN membership.
