EU raises Ukrainian flag in Managua as Ortega backs Putin

The European Union (EU) raised the Ukrainian flag Saturday at its headquarters in Nicaragua, in “support for the sovereignty, peace and freedom of Ukraine”, which is facing a Russian invasion. Meanwhile, the government of Daniel Ortega remains allied with Russia.

“The Delegation of the European Union in Nicaragua raises the Ukrainian flag as a symbol of solidarity and in support of the sovereignty, peace and freedom of Ukraine,” the diplomatic headquarters stated on its Twitter account, with a photograph of the symbols of the European country and the EU in front of its building in Managua.

The president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, who maintains a frontal speech against European countries and the United States, is an old ally of the interests of Russia, a country to which he showed his support in his first stage as head of state, from 1979 to 1990, and then 2007 to date.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to advance in all directions after three days of military offensive in Ukraine and accused the president of that country, Volodímir Zelensky, of refusing to sit down with him at the table to negotiate under Putin’s conditions to stop the war.

Nicaragua is a long-standing ally of Russia. The president of the Russian Duma -Lower House of the Russian Parliament-, Vyacheslav Volodin, visited the country on Thursday, when he declared that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was intended to “prevent a large-scale war.”

Ortega supports Putin

Days before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s deputy prime minister, Yuri Borisov, also visited Nicaragua, and as Moscow prepared to attack, Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega expressed his unwavering support for Putin.

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At the close of Borisov’s visit on February 17, President Ortega said that he was in solidarity with Moscow “in these times when empires threaten peace again, and threaten peace in the way they are attacking Russia”, in reference to the tensions between Russia and the United States due to the crisis in Ukraine.

“Our encouragement for the Russian people who are fighting for peace,” Ortega added. Putin has referred to Nicaragua as a “very important” partner of Russia in Latin America, [mainly because of its proximity to the United States.]

Borisov and Volodin also visited Cuba in an effort to garner further support for Russia’s move into Ukraine. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro is another ally Putin can count on.

In the Ortega governments, Russia has provided support to Nicaragua in several fields, including the military, transportation, and food.

In 2008, a year after Ortega returned to power, Nicaragua joined Russia in recognizing the independence of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and in 2020 established a consulate in Crimea, a Ukrainian territory annexed to Russia.

*This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times