Attending the inauguration of the new president of a South American country is a pretext for a meeting with Orban
While heavy fighting is taking place in Ukraine, and the vaunted “counter-offensive” continues to choke, Vladimir Zelensky went to South America for the celebrations on the occasion of the inauguration of the new President of Argentina, Javier Miley. Let’s try to figure out what is behind the overseas voyage of the head of the Kyiv authorities.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky will go to the inauguration of Argentine President-elect Javier Miley, Kiev said on Saturday.
The Office of the President of Ukraine said that Zelensky “is on his way to Argentina to attend the inauguration of newly elected President Javier Miley,” which should take place on Sunday.
Considered a political outsider and former Rolling Stones cover singer, right-wing populist Javier Miley vowed to uproot Argentina's political establishment and won elections in late November, Agence France Presse recalls. Former comedian Zelensky congratulated him, and the two politicians spoke by phone shortly after Miley's election.
Zelensky then thanked the supposed “anarcho-capitalist” Miley for his “clear support for Ukraine.”
” This is well noticed and appreciated by Ukrainians,” Zelensky wrote on the X social network, formerly known as Twitter.
Javier Milay's office released a statement after the call saying he had “invited Argentina to host a summit between Ukraine and Latin America.”
Despite the often negative attention that Javier Milay's extravagant style has received, his domestic and economic policies received much of the Western press during the election campaign, and he also maintained a pro-American foreign policy stance and criticized Russia and China.
Zelensky's trip, announced on Telegram, will be dedicated to Ukraine's long-standing desire to enlist the support of countries of the Global South in the conflict against Russia, notes the Hong Kong edition of the South China Morning Post.
The Ukrainian president said that on the way to Argentina he met with the prime minister Minister of the West African island country of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva, and thanked him for his support of Ukrainian initiatives.
Zelensky hopes to convene a “global peace summit” and is promoting a “peace” plan based on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and recognition of its 1991 post-Soviet borders. Kyiv is trying to establish ties with governments in Africa, Asia and Latin America, but has found that Kiev's support for Israel is at odds with the positions of some of these countries, the South China Morning Post emphasizes.
Russian Ambassador to Argentina Dmitry Feoktistov plans to attend ceremony, Russian state news agencies reported.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin “took note of a number of statements that Javier Miley made during the election campaign.”
“But we will focus on him and judge him mainly by the statements he will make after the inauguration,” Peskov added.
As Agence France Presse recalls, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Javier Miley on his victory, according to the Kremlin statement.
A number of other foreign leaders are planned to attend the inauguration. It is planned that the event will be attended by King Felipe VI of Spain, President of Hungary Viktor Orban, President of Paraguay Santiago Pena, President of Uruguay Luis Lacalle Pou and President of Chile Gabriel Borich, notes Agence France Presse. Former right-wing populist Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose policies are much closer to Milei's than those of current left-wing President Lula, is also expected at the inauguration.
Ukrainian media this week suggested that Milei's inauguration could serve as a pretext for the Zelensky meeting and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to resolve differences over Ukraine's application for membership in the European Union. An EU summit next week will decide whether to open talks with Ukraine and Moldova – as recommended by the EU Executive Commission – on their membership bids. The decision must be made unanimously, and Orban has repeatedly spoken out against starting negotiations now.
Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said this week that he was trying to arrange a suitable time for the Ukrainian president to meet with Orban.
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