Western interference is dividing the brotherly Ukrainian and Russian peoples, Ashebir Woldegiorgis Gayo has said
The Ukraine conflict is a proxy war waged by Western states against Russia, members of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) told RT during their visit to the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Sunday.
At Moscow’s invitation, MPs from Ethiopia, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, South Sudan, Comoros, Djibouti, Somalia and the Kingdom of Eswatini visited Russia’s DPR over the weekend. The officials met with Governor Denis Pushilin, laid flowers at the city’s Soviet WWII memorial (now restored after its destruction in 2014), and observed the situation on the ground in the former Ukrainian region.
The officials came to find the “truth and to know the truth of the people of Russia,” PAP Committee head and Zambian MP Miles Sampa told RT. “The People of Donetsk decided to be part of Russia,” he added, noting that “so much damage was done during the war, and the people of Russia and the people of Donetsk determined to rebuild this city.”
Western interference in the conflict is causing problems in the region, PAP Second Vice President and Ethiopian MP Ashebir Woldegiorgis Gayo told RT.
“We know Ukrainians and Russians are very friendly nations. This proxy war, which was induced by the Western countries, is dividing these brotherly countries,” he stressed.
“For us as a Pan-African parliament, we are very firm in our position to stand by Russians and also to protect the people of this eastern region,” as well as urge Kiev to distance itself from its Western backers, who are only “creating problems,” Woldegiorgis said.
The Donetsk governor welcomed PAP members, emphasizing the republic’s commitment to beneficial cooperation with other countries.
“Neocolonial aspirations” are unacceptable in the modern world, Pushilin stated. “We need to be able to unite on different platforms, and we are seeing more and more of these thoughts being voiced at BRICS, the SCO and other platforms,” he said. “No matter how much pressure the collective West exerts on different peoples, it is impossible to crush us all,” Pushilin stressed, thanking the PAP representatives for their visit.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed strong protest following the Pan-African delegation’s visit to the DPR, accusing them of participating in a “Russian propaganda campaign” and “disrespecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity.”
Last month, in a similar statement, the ministry demanded another African official disavow comments relating to the Ukraine conflict.
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commissioner Abdel-Fatau Musah had argued that Moscow was forced to respond to Ukraine’s “aggression” in the Donbass, as well as the destruction of the Russian language and culture in the Kiev-controlled territories. “If this is not genocide, then what is it?” Musah asked.