Honorary Russian consul resigns over Ukraine invasion

Russia’s honorary consul in Quintana Roo announced her resignation Thursday due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while President López Obrador expressed Mexico’s opposition to the assault on the eastern European nation.

Armina Wolpert said on Twitter that she couldn’t represent Russia without sharing the values and principles of the Russian government.

“I will miss working with the wonderful people from the embassy,” she wrote in a post that included the hashtag #UcraniaBajoAtaque, or #UkraineUnderAttack.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Wolpert has been Russia’s honorary consul in Quintana Roo since August 2016. She is also the owner and CEO of a travel agency that focuses on Russian tourism to Mexico.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ambassador to Mexico called on the Mexican government to condemn Russia’s aggression and take a “clear position” on the conflict.

“We expect a clear position from Mexico because until now we haven’t felt the Mexican position clearly,” Oksana Dramaretsha told a press conference.

On Wednesday night, just before Russia’s full-scale invasion had begun, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter that Mexico “rejects the use of force,” while President López Obrador said Thursday that the country is not in “favor of any war.”

“Mexico is a country that has always declared itself in favor of peace,” he told reporters at his morning news conference. ” … We don’t want people to suffer, we don’t want the civilian population to be affected, we don’t want military confrontation. That’s our position,” López Obrador said.

But unlike many other countries, Mexico has not announced any economic sanctions on Russia.

López Obrador said that the invasion of Ukraine is already generating economic effects for Mexico, but asserted that the country is prepared to respond to them.

“If the price of imported gas increases a lot we can put all the power plants that don’t require gas to work in order to avoid an increase in the cost of electricity,” he said. “… We already have a plan … to produce more electricity with water; we’re going to put the hydroelectric plants to work at full capacity. … In the case of gasoline, there is a subsidy … so that even if the price of imported gasoline or crude oil goes up the increase isn’t passed on to consumers.”

Later on Thursday, a group of Ukrainian citizens gathered outside the Russian Embassy in Mexico City to protest the invasion of their homeland.

“We should all say no to this war,” one woman identified only as Sofia told the newspaper Reforma. “This is a hit against me, my family and my friends.”

Eugenio, a Ukrainian man currently studying in Mexico said that his political views are different from those of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but he nevertheless supports him as he governs the country amid the Russian invasion.

“We have political differences but that’s not important now, the important thing is our country. I support our president,” Eugenio said. “Ukraine will win. … We’re going to defend our freedom.”

On Thursday morning, the Russian Embassy shared a photograph of President Vladimir Putin on its Facebook page superimposed with a quote from his address early Thursday (Russian time) in which he announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine and declared that an “empire of lies” has been created inside the United States.

With reports from El Universal, Milenio and Reforma