Argentina wants an end to the war in Ukraine, says foreign minister

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine not only destabilized peace, but also impacted prices in his country.

“Latin America is a zone of peace, the most densely populated zone of peace,” Cafiero said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. “We have no military development or military infrastructure to participate in a war which we demand to end and which must not continue.”

He said his country condemned the Russian invasion from the start because “Argentina believes that the principle of territorial integrity has been violated by Russia. Argentina has always had the same message in international forums”.

“What we need is peace, and escalation will only destroy…especially when it comes to creating lasting peace,” he said.

Cafiero said the war, immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic, caused an increase in food, fertilizer and energy prices which also impacted Argentina. “Although we are producers, the impact on prices has of course generated high inflation,” he said.

He was in Dhaka to reopen the Argentine embassy as a token of thanks to Bangladesh and its people, Argentina’s ardent supporters at the World Cup. Football legends Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi are household names in Bangladesh, where thousands of Argentine flags fly during matches.

Argentina was one of the first countries to recognize the new nation of Bangladesh after a nine-month war with Pakistan in 1971. It opened its embassy in 1974, but Argentina’s military dictatorship closed it in 1977.

The South American country wants to expand trade with Bangladesh, the 35th largest economy and one of the five fastest growing in the world. Currently, the volume of bilateral trade is less than 1,000 million dollars.

“I think our trade is currently below our mutual capacity. Although there is some volatility, I think based on the mechanisms and agreements that we were able to put in place today…we will double our exchanges with Bangladesh in the next two to four years,” Cafiero said.

He said Bangladesh could take advantage of “great opportunities” in South America thanks to the regional economic bloc Mercosur, which includes 270 million people. You can also learn from Argentina about nuclear technology for medicine.

“And we can create joint ventures that benefit our countries and other countries as well. I think tech-intensive business is a sector where Bangladesh and Argentina have a lot of room to explore and grow,” he said.

Cafiero also met with the Bangladesh Football Federation and signed a memorandum of understanding on sports development “to build bridges with young people who want to play sports and continue to build this relationship based on the history of our nations”. .

Deputy Foreign Minister Shahriar Alam said on Monday that the reopening of the Argentine embassy will deepen relations between the two countries.

“Bangladesh wants to expand its relations with Argentina, the largest economy in South America, in all possible sectors of collaboration in depth and dimension,” he said, adding that the two countries share a bond. that transcends politics and diplomacy.