By Robert Andre Emmanuel
Three months after Prime Minister Gaston Browne and his Cabinet called on Ukraine “to raise the white flag” and “seek to make peace with Russia”, Minister of Foreign Affairs EP Chet Greene has met with Ukrainian counterparts to reassure the war-torn nation of Antigua and Barbuda’s commitment to their sovereignty.
In a Twitter (now called X) post, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said “I spoke with my counterpart Everly Paul Chet Greene to thank Antigua and Barbuda for consistently supporting Ukraine, including at the UN and the OAS. We discussed ways to further develop our bilateral cooperation and strengthen Ukraine’s ties with CARICOM.”
The meeting between the two chief diplomats of their respective countries comes months after Prime Minister Browne said in February that if he were the Ukrainian leader, “there is no way I would subject my people and my country to the kind of destruction to be part of NATO”.
Immediately following Observer media’s reporting of the Prime Minister’s comments, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US, Sir Ronald Sanders, and Foreign Minister Greene released a statement expressing empathy and support for the Ukrainian people and their cause.
The Prime Minister later sought to argue that his comments did not expressly contradict his main diplomats’.
The controversial comments reappeared in the Cabinet notes in March, where the Cabinet referenced the views of late US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, stating that: “one year before his death, [he] also proposed that Ukraine seek out peace with Russia in a war that Ukraine cannot win, and to end the human suffering.
“The Prime Minister’s worldview is therefore consistent with those dispassionate thought-leaders in the world who deem war to be destructive and ultimately harmful to civilians and soldiers, economies and material well-being,” the Cabinet notes read at the time.
Minister of Information Melford Nicholas later sought to defend the comments in the post-Cabinet press briefing the next day by arguing that the time may be right for Ukraine “to negotiate their way out of the situation”.
Meanwhile, yesterday, Sir Ronald Sanders reiterated Antigua and Barbuda support for Ukraine which has been under siege by Russia for more than two years.
“Antigua and Barbuda stands with Ukraine in safeguarding sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law,” he said in a Twitter post.