Foreign
By Kennedy Nnamani
THE United States has denied speculations of having disregarded a secret agreement with Russia. This was made known by Molly Phee, U.S Assistant Secretary Bureau of African Affairs, during a digital press conference on the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine in the context of its impact on the nations of the African continent.
In her statement, while responding to a question if it is true that there is an agreement between Russia and the United States that the United States does not want to respect, assistant secretary Phee deflated that the U.S has no secret contract with Russia.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but there is no secret agreement between the United States and Russia.”
Urging the African newsmen, she underlined the need to focus on the issue at stake by joining the rest of the world to continue to vote against the bombardment that the Russian government mounts on Ukraine.
“It is critical that we stand together right now and speak with one voice to reject this type of aggression. I think you are all journalists. You can watch on TV, online, on the radio. You can hear the voices of the Ukrainian people. You can see what’s happening. You would not want that to happen in your country. That’s the principle at stake,” she said.
In the same manner, she advised that it is important for everyone to look for ways to show support for the Ukrainian people. Thus the assistant secretary urged African countries to follow the examples of other stakeholders in sanctioning Russia, by boycotting the Russia–Africa Summit in St. Petersburg.
According to her, “Whether that is a vote in the United Nations, whether that is a decision to decline to engage with Russia until Putin changes his country’s behavior. Everyone should be exploring what is possible.
“If you look at what the international community is doing, you’ve seen unprecedented reaction; for example, major oil companies decline to engage with Moscow. You’ve seen major airlines refuse to allow Russian airplanes to fly to their countries. You’ve seen orchestras or other cultural groups refuse to engage with Russians until this aggression ends. So I think there is no one way to stand up for the Ukrainian people. There are many ways, and it’s up to each country to decide how to move forward.”
KN
Tags: Molly Phee Putin Zelenskyy
