PM Browne suggests Ukraine may have to surrender while Embassy in US expresses sympathy

​By Aabigayle McIntosh

The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been addressed by the Antigua and Barbuda Embassy in Washington DC.

Ambassador Ronald Saunders of Antigua to the United States expressed the government’s sympathy for the people of Ukraine.

“The Government of Antigua and Barbuda continues to be sympathetic to the situation of the people of Ukraine and will continue to support their rights and all efforts to achieve a solution to the conflict with Russia, through diplomatic and legal means”.

Interestingly, Ambassador Saunders’ stance is a bit different from statements made by Prime Minister Gaston Browne on the Browne and Browne Show.

The Prime Minister suggested that Ukraine should surrender, expressing concerns about the president of that country subjecting his people and government to potential destruction by becoming part of NATO.

“I am concerned there is no way I would subject my people and my country to that type of destruction to be a part of NATO and I don’t think that the request was necessarily unreasonable. “Russia and Ukraine have shared history no one of the same and I don’t know that was necessarily the motivation but Putin and the Russian administration trying to take a position that we don’t want Neto on our doorsteps,” Browne said.

He speculated about the motivations behind Russia’s opposition to NATO and criticized the President of Ukraine for engaging in what he called a “senseless war.

“If you notice the support is dwindling and Rusia still standing.at the end of the day, I am quite sure reflection that Ukraine will have to surrender and maybe in a hidden sight they will look back and say they should not have joined NATO,” Browne said.

In February 2022, Russia initiated an invasion of Ukraine, further escalating the long-standing conflict between the two nations. This invasion has been reported as the largest attack on a European country since World War II.

The invasion has resulted in significant human losses, with tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians being killed and hundreds of thousands of military personnel being injured. As of June 2022, Russian troops have successfully captured nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory.

In addition, the invasion has caused over 8 million Ukrainians to be internally displaced, with more than 8.2 million fleeing the country. This has led to Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.