Former Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra questioned the Government’s oscillating position in the face of the crisis generated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and warned that Argentina has no other alternative than “reject” the military operation promoted by President Vladimir Putin.
“Argentina has no other alternative than to define itself clearly with respect to the horror that represents this invasion“, asserted the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauricio Macri when asked about the varied position of the Alberto Fernández government in the face of the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to CNN in Spanish, Malcorra stressed that the Argentine Executive must declare “the rejection of this invasion and the immediate request for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops.” “There is an issue of the principles of the United Nations Charter here, in which Argentina has played a fundamental role aligned with that charter,” he stated.
Alberto Fernández and Vladimir Putin during the last visit of the Argentine president to Russia. Photo: AFP
The former official explained that “not a question” to align with the United States or NATO but “it is a matter of the basic principles of the (UN) charter”. “You have to be very clear and say that basic principles have been violated and a member country of the United Nations, a sovereign country, has been invaded and there is no other alternative than to reject it,” he stressed.
Conflict analysis
When analyzing the crisis that Ukraine is experiencing as a result of the Russian military operation, Susana Malcorra admitted that she does not have a specific answer as to what is going to happen. “A pessimistic scenario would be that Ukraine becomes a full occupancy“, pointed out the former chancellor, who clarified that this probability was “very low”. “But to be honest, the probability that what happened today would happen was also very low,” she admitted.
“A positive scenario would be that a very quick ceasefire is made and that an intermediate position is negotiated where the area of Donbass (Ukraine) and the independent republics recognized by Russia reach an intermediate state and that calms the waters,” express.
On this point, the former minister indicated that this position was “reasonable” before the Russian invasion. However, Malcorra pointed out that the current reality indicates that “the level of madness that we are seeing, an invasion in the best 20th century style, in the best WWII style It leads to the question of whether such a scenario is feasible”.
Going deeper into the mention of the Second World War, Malcorra explained that “the relative situation of Russia today from what Hitler’s Nazi Germany was is very different” and even pointed out that “the relative situation of the rest of the world is very different.”
The terrible images of the war in Ukraine. Photo: AFP
However, the former minister cited the message Russia sent to Sweden and Finland warning of the consequences of joining NATO. “It is hard to think that Russia can go much further. All this is from the logic but the illogical one can think that it goes further and goes through some of the Baltic states since there are claims of Russian separatists who are members of NATO and there yes we entered a different situation”, he pointed out in reference to the cases of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
The role of NATO and the US
Regarding the questioning of the response given by the great powers and NATO in the face of this conflict, the former minister explained that this organization “has very clearly defined when it can intervene in a territory of what is called Article 5 of NATO and only can do it when a member country is being affected like Ukraine is”.
He even pointed out that only if any of the neighboring countries is being threatened can he offer help as he is doing now with the Ukrainian government sending weapons and logistics. “Unless NATO decides the war cannot intervene. For NATO to go to war with Russia by agreeing with all members is not a simple thing,” he noted.
Malcorra asserted that “this idea that NATO was preparing to intervene (in Ukraine) that Putin pointed out was totally contrary to the functioning of NATO.”
As for the position of the United States, which has been able to intervene in other conflicts, the former Argentine foreign minister cited the case of Iran and pointed out that the US army has just left Afghanistan. She, however, warned about the seriousness of a possible intervention by the United States in Ukraine when confronting Russia, which is a country that has nuclear power and is a member of the Security Council. “Do not forget that the discussion is taking place in the Security Council when Russia is president, the situation is very different from other interventions by the United States,” she said.
In addition, Malcorra pointed out that at this historical moment in the United States, “the appetite to enter a war is very low“That is why he estimated that “stronger sanctions” will be seen beforehand, but he insisted that “a military intervention by the United States is unlikely to happen on the ground.”
Regarding how he foresees that the conflict will continue and the possibility that everything will be left to Putin’s will, Malcorra replied: “madness of a person can lead to miscalculations. There are greater safeguards than those in the 20th century when the Second War began, but it is also true that those safeguards at the moment they are not working“.
“This issue of rethinking the geopolitical balance could lead to a dramatic situation. I hope that common sense prevails and the madness of one person does not take us to the extreme of ideas,” concluded the former chancellor.
GRB
