WASHINGTON, February 22. /TASS/. The administration of US President Joe Biden is engaged in dragging neutral states of the Global South into the Ukrainian conflict, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told reporters.

"Instead of adding 'fuel to the fire' of the Ukrainian conflict and dragging neutral states of the Global South into it, Washington and its satellites should be concerned about providing effective assistance to partners. These are the types of topics that should be discussed at the OAS (Organization of American States - TASS)," he said in a statement posted on the embassy’s Telegram channel.

Antonov pointed out that some delegations of the OAS countries expressed their dissatisfaction with "'throwing' into the discussion of issues that were not within the sphere of competence of the organization." "Especially against the backdrop of growing and truly acute problems in Latin America itself. Be it the deteriorating socio-economic situation, the raging migration crisis or the rampant transnational organized crime," the diplomat pointed out.

The OAS, based in Washington, D.C., was founded in 1948 and has remained under US control. Formally, it included 35 states from North, South, Central America and the Caribbean. In 1962, under US pressure, the OAS suspended Cuba's membership. In 2017, Venezuela announced its withdrawal from the OAS, and two years later was expelled from it in accordance with the organization's charter. In November 2021, the Nicaraguan authorities decided to withdraw the country from the OAS due to its interference in the country’s domestic affairs.