War in Ukraine: “We can’t trust Russia, a nuclear power that commits war crimes”

“Obviously, we can’t rely on Russia. We can’t trust Russia, a nuclear power that commits war crimes.” Virginijus Sinkevicius this is category. The European Commission’s Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries stressed that, as Moscow continues to bomb entire cities in Ukraine, the world, and especially Europe, must stop buying gas and oil from them. And speed up the transition to clean energy.

Visiting Buenos Aires as part of a tour that also took him to Colombia, Brazil, and ends in Uruguay this Wednesday, Lithuanian Sinkevičius spoke with Clarionbetween a series of meetings with Argentine government officials, such as the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Julián Domínguez, and Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero.

In Brazil and Colombia he also has a full agenda, more focused on visiting the Amazon, where he has verified that “deforestation continues to advance” and this year could reach another record.

There he debated a series of projects likely to prevent this invasion against the great lung of the planet.

“The idea is to stop buying raw materials derived from deforestation. In particular, we have focused on six activities: animal husbandry, woodworking, cocoa, coffee, soybeans and palm oil,” explained the official, former Minister. of the Economy of Lithuania.

Here in Argentina, on Monday, he toured the Beagle Channel and the waters of Tierra del Fuego, where he focused his attention on marine protected areas and projects for marine protection surrounding Antarctica.

Argentina and the war in Ukraine

But among his priorities was talking to Foreign Minister Cafiero about the Argentine’s position on the war in Ukraine.

-What is your opinion about Argentina’s position?

-Argentina is clear on its position on the United Nations Human Rights Committee, where it voted in favor of excluding Russia. We cannot allow a country that kills innocent children and citizens every day to participate in the Committee. ”

-International environmental commitments were left in the background, especially the agreement signed last year at the Climate Change summit in Glasgow, Scotland, when the eyes of the world were focused on the war in Ukraine …

-When there is loss of human life and war crimes, it makes sense that the political agenda and the media agenda are centered there. But the climate crisis has not stopped, and we should not stop paying attention to it. In fact, there are actions being taken, but now they are not very visible.

-The great debate today in Europe is how to stop depending on Russia’s oil and gas imports. Many countries still do not dare to stop buying from Moscow because they have no alternatives …

-The war showed that we must renounce the dangerous hope in Russia and we must accelerate the transition to green energy. We cannot trust Russia. We must diversify energy sources and the governments and the European Union are doing it.

– And how can this be achieved?

-We have a goal to reduce Russia’s gas consumption by two thirds this year, and certainly at the beginning of next year we will be able to replace it by one hundred percent. The sixth round of sanctions against Russia could include energy. Obviously it can’t be done overnight, but we are on that path. We cannot sacrifice the defense of human rights and the protection of the lives of innocent citizens for a mercantilist cause. That is why we are intensifying projects for the use of biogas and other alternative energy.

“We cannot sacrifice the defense of human rights and the protection of the lives of innocent citizens for a mercantilist reason.”

– What views do you have about the war? Will it be a long -term conflict, as many analysts and experts have already suggested, or do you see a possibility of negotiation?

-The only way is an immediate ceasefire to start peace negotiations. But honestly, I’m not optimistic. Russia brutally kills civilians, rapes and commits other atrocities. We saw it in Bucha and in Mariupol. A major industrial city, such as Mariupol, was completely destroyed, it no longer exists. Our clear mission should be to help Ukraine, its citizens who have lost everything, create humanitarian corridors.

– Do you think Russia is ready to talk at some point?

-It is clear that Russia has no intention of negotiating. The Ukrainians did not wake up on February 24 thinking they were being attacked. They got up to work, study, and Russia invaded the country and began to attack. It is clear that the Russian government has a goal, which it has not achieved, so now what it is looking for is to surround the country, invade other eastern regions, as it did years ago in the Crimea. Moscow’s speech is completely cynical. How can we expect to talk to a government that every day destroys houses, infrastructure, kills innocent people, violates international law?

-The situation will get worse and worse, according to your eyes …

-This war, no doubt, will have effects on which world we live in. The climate crisis does not stop, and we need to talk about it. But now we must stop the loss of human life and the war crimes committed on Ukrainian territory.