The Trends Journal has reported since the start of the Ukraine War that any mention of peace has been banned in the U.S., and anyone who dares to question the wisdom of endless weapon transfers to Kyiv is an apologist for Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Western countries often forget that there are other regions of the world and they have refused to join Washington in its blind hatred for Russia and its defeat-Putin-at-all-costs approach to the conflict through sanctions and billions in aid.

The Munich Security Council was an example of the fissure. While Vice President Kamala Harris and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke about how “no nation is safe” with a country like Russia on the prowl, representatives in the global south continued to take a more pragmatic approach to the war. 

Mauro Vieira, Brazil’s foreign minister, called the war in Ukraine a very sad situation and said his country “deplored” Russia’s decision to invade. But he noted how the world is approaching the one-year anniversary of the invasion and said it is high time to start building the possibility of a solution.

“We cannot keep talking only of war,” he said.

The Financial Times noted that there were a lot of representatives from the global south at the conference and they expressed frustration that the war in Ukraine was drawing so much attention from the pressing problems in Africa and South American countries. 

“We don’t want to go on discussing who will be the winner or the loser of a war,” Francia Marquez, vice president of Colombia, said, according to the paper. “We are all losers and, in the end, it is human-kind that loses everything.”

The paper also noted that Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, the prime minister of Namibia, was asked why her country abstained from a UN resolution in October condemning Russia’s annexation in Ukraine. She said that she is not interested in identifying the guilty parties, but is interested in resolving the problem. 

“The bottom line is that money used to buy weapons would be better used to promote development in Ukraine, in Africa, in Asia, in the EU itself where many people are facing hardships,” she said.

TRENDPOST: Russia joined China and South Africa for naval drills in the Indian Ocean while the conference in Germany was taking place. (See: “CHINA SIDES WITH RUSSIA IN CLASH WITH WEST. WILL THE BOTTOM LINE LIMIT SUPPORT?” 22 Feb 2022 and “BRAZIL’S LULA BLASTS U.S. OVER WEAPON TRANSFERS TO UKRAINE” 7 Jun 2022.)

The Jerusalem Post noted that counties considered to be the global south were once part of the “non-aligned movement during the Cold War—and where Russia and China have made inroads due to their position as ‘anti-imperialist,’ or helping poorer countries against the West.”

“The timing of these exercises is particularly unfortunate and will focus the world’s attention on South Africa during the anniversary of the war. I don’t think Western nations are going to let this one slide,” Steven Gruzd, head of the African Governance and Diplomacy Program at the South African Institute of International Affairs, told CNN.

Since the start of the war, most countries in the global south have adopted a position of studied neutrality on the war because China and Russia have important economic ties with these countries while the U.S. directed its attention to failed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.