Mexico won’t impose sanctions on Russia, López Obrador says

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Tuesday his country won’t impose economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

“We are not going to take any sort of economic reprisal because we want to have good relations with all the governments in the world,” López Obrador said at his daily news conference.

López Obrador was internally criticized for his reluctance to condemn the unprovoked invasion, with initial official Mexican reactions calling for dialogue between the parties.

A day after hostilities broke out, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard issued a statement condemning the Russian attack.

Mexico was among the 11 United Nations Security Council members to vote for a resolution condemning Russia’s actions late last week.

Russia vetoed that resolution, and China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstained.

Still, López Obrador on Tuesday seemed to sympathize with Russia’s position, declining the possibility of imposing sanctions and segueing into what he called “censorship” of Russian state media.

López Obrador laid out his stance on sanctions in response to a question on Russian company Lukoil’s local investments and Aeroflot’s operations in Mexico.

His refusal to impose sanctions is rhetorical, as he lacks the power to impose sanctions akin to those imposed by Washington and some European capitals.

Mexico’s sanctions regime is limited to restrictions on individuals and entities from accessing the local financial system in cases of money laundering and terrorist financing, and not geared toward broad financial restrictions with geopolitical reach.