The Global South media on the war in Ukraine (28.04 – 05.05)
- Perspectives on conflict resolution
El Comercio, a Peruvian national daily newspaper, published on May 4, the article “The call between Xi and Zelensky: China’s attempt to become a mediator between Russia and Ukraine?” (“La llamada entre Xi y Zelensky: El paso de China para convertirse en mediador entre Rusia y Ucrania?”), in which it is suggested that Beijing is going to try to end the hostilities in Ukraine to increase its global influence.
“The leaders of China and Ukraine held a first phone conversation since the start of Russian invasion and they agreed to enhance their bilateral relations. This, in turn, become an indication of Beijing’s desire to become a mediator between the warring parties and make a decisive step to negotiation process, which will bring the war to an end“.
“Ukraine says that the call between Xi and Zelensky is opening ‘a new stage’ in its interaction with China. And Russia has welcomed China’s willingness to settle conflict in Ukraine”.
(Translated from Spainish by IISWU)
- Economic problems caused by the war in Ukraine
The Hindustan Times, a national Indian newspaper published on May 4 the article “EU aims to target nations through which Russia evades sanctions” .
“The European Union is discussing a new sanctions mechanism to target third countries it believes aren’t doing enough to prevent Russia from evading sanctions, particularly those that can’t explain spikes in trade of key goods or technologies, according to people familiar with the matter”.
“The primary aim of the tool would be to deter countries from helping Russia and crack down on trade channels that Moscow may be exploiting, the people said. If that doesn’t work, the bloc would have the option as a second step of imposing targeted restrictions on key goods. The bloc also aims to widen the scope of several existing export measures and ban many goods transiting through Russia, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.
Imports to Russia of goods like semiconductors, integrated circuits and other technologies have surged from countries such as Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China and others.
The new enforcement mechanism, aspects of which were first reported by the Financial Times, would give member states the authority to create two lists — one of affected third countries and the other of banned goods. If the mechanism is approved by national governments, decisions on which countries and goods to list would be for member states to take unanimously, the people said. The measures were unlikely to target China at first, but focus mostly on nations in central Asia and Russia’s immediate neighbors, the people added”.
“Elsewhere, the proposed package would make it easier to sanction companies in third countries that are circumventing the EU’s sanctions. EU sanctions require the backing of all member states to be adopted. The bloc is aiming to finalize the measures ahead of a Group of Seven summit later this month and member states are expected to discuss the proposals in the coming days. The EU is also aiming to widen existing bans on cars, high-end technologies that have been used by Russia in Ukraine, industrial goods, and iron and steel as well as processed products that use the sanctioned metals, the people said. Prohibitions on goods could extend to intellectual property rights and licenses issued to produce those items”. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/european-unions-sanctions-russia-ukraine-war-101683193300281.html
El Universal, a national Mexican newspaper, published on April 28, the article “What happened to the Mexican companies that had investments in Russia when the war in Ukraine began” (“Qué pasó con las empresas mexicanas que tenían inversiones en Rusia cuando inició la guerra en Ucrania”).
“Over 1,000 foreign companies have already announced that they have voluntarily withdrawn, suspended or reduced their business operations in Russia. The list of such companies has been compiled by the Yale University Institute for Executive Leadership, where a group of researchers has been following the decisions made by the companies and keeps continuously updating the information about their activity“.
“Only six companies from Latin America have appeared on the list so far. Embraer, a Brazilian company, suspended its operations in Russia.
There are also five large Mexican companies that had commercial operations in the European country when the war began in February last year. The Mexican firms are Gruma, Grupo Bimbo, Nemak, Binbit and Kidzania”.
Grupo Bimbo reported that all its operations in Russia were suspended ”due to the current international situation, and in accordance with its values”. Grupo Bimbo declared in its published press release on March 14, 2022 that it had ceased sales of the products of the Bimbo brands in Russia, as well as its new capital and marketing investments in that country”.
”Grupo Bimbo belongs to the Servitje family, it operates in thirty countries and is considered one of the leading baking companies in the world. Nemak, an auto parts manufacturer, also announced in March 2022 that it had stopped production at its Russian factory”.
”Gruma which produces Mexican tortillas has postponed new investments in Russia, but keeps their Russian plants operating. Kidzania, a private company specialized in children’s entertainment, continues to operate. Kidzania is not listed on the stock market, it started its activity in Moscow in January 2016, with an estimated investment of 30 million USD. Binbit seems to remain among the companies that still do business in Russia. The firm didn’t make any public statements, but it continues to advertise in Russian media”.
(Translated from Spainish by IISWU)
- Impact of the war on the Global South relations with Russia, China and the West
Dawn, the largest English newspaper in Pakistan, published on May 4 the article “‘Businesslike’ Bilawal heads to Goa”. The article was devoted to the plans of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to use his participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers to strengthen relations with other members of SCO, especially with Russia and China.
“The foreign minister is also expected to meet with his counterparts from friendly countries on the sidelines of the meeting”.
“India has also sent invitations to the foreign ministers of China and Russia along with other Central Asian countries. Iran is the newest member of the organization and it will, for the first time, attend the SCO meeting as a full member.”.
“The visit where foreign ministers of China and Russia would be participating along with other member states makes it an occasion to review the global situation, which is spiraling out of control, chiefly given the war in Ukraine. But India and Pakistan have a canny way of upstaging the global agenda. ”.
ttps://www.dawn.com/news/1750811