Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky heads to Argentina, hoping to win Global South’s support
- The leader is making his first trip to Latin America to attend the inauguration of new Argentine President Javier Milei
- The event could serve as a backdrop for a meeting between Zelensky and Hungary’s Orban to resolve differences over Ukraine’s bid for EU membership
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was travelling to Argentina on Saturday to attend the inauguration of new Argentine President Javier Milei, his first trip to Latin America.
Zelensky’s trip, announced on the Telegram messaging app, will focus on Ukraine’s long-standing bid to secure the support of countries in the Global South in Ukraine’s 21-month-old war against Russia.
The Ukrainian president said he had met the prime minister of the West African country of Cabo Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva, en route to Argentina and thanked him for “condemning Russian aggression” and supporting Ukrainian initiatives.
Zelensky hopes to convene a “global peace summit” and has promoted a peace plan rooted in the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and recognition of its post-Soviet borders of 1991.
Kyiv has been trying to build ties with African, Asian and Latin American governments, but has found its support for Israel at odds with the positions of some of those countries.