BUENOS AIRES, April 24. /TASS/. The Argentine government does not consider sanctions against Russia an effective way to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said in an interview with the Telam agency, which was published on Saturday.
The Foreign Minister noted that Argentine laws, even in theory, do not allow the country to impose "unilateral sanctions."
"On the other hand, Argentina proposes a return to dialogue, calming the situation. We do not believe that the imposition of sanctions and blockades is a productive way to achieve peace, dialogue and diplomatic negotiations," he said, answering a question about the situation around Ukraine.
Cafiero also noted that for Argentina, the interests of Latin America are a priority, and now there are problems in the region that deserve attention. The Argentine Foreign Minister also drew attention to the fact that other countries are currently facing humanitarian crises as well.
"It's true that the war in Europe has kind of captured all the public's attention, but the humanitarian crisis in Haiti is no less real, and it doesn't go away because the media isn't focused on it," the minister noted.
In the context of preparations for the ninth Summit of the Americas, which will be held in June in Los Angeles, Cafiero announced the need to discuss the topic of food security in the region and noted that "the United States cannot stand aside."
"Judging countries and imposing sanctions and blockades is not Argentina's method and never has been, and it seems to us that such actions in the region have only led to greater inequality and a setback in social development," the Argentine minister said.
He also stressed that the forthcoming Western Hemisphere Summit should raise "topics relating to Latin America and the Caribbean, and not continue to discuss only topics that go beyond the region."
"The lack of discussion of our pressing issues does not solve them, but only makes them invisible," he added.
Earlier, the press secretary of the President of Argentina, Gabriela Serruti, said that Argentina would not support the indiscriminate exclusion of Russia from all international organizations, including the G20, because of the situation in Ukraine, as it does not believe that this contributes to the resolution of the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine, stressing that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. Western countries responded to the actions of the Russian authorities by slapping sanctions on physical and legal entities.