Browne meets with Russian and Ukranian ambassadors

MINISTER of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne has held discussions with Russian and Ukranian diplomats as Trinidad and Tobago outlined its clearest stance yet on which side it supports in the ongoing war between both countries.

In two separate media releases on October 21, the ministry said Browne met with Russia and Ukraine’s ambassadors to TT on October 18.

It said the meeting with Russia’s ambassador Alexander S Kurmaz at the ministry’s headquarters focused on the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

It said the meeting began with Browne emphasising TT’s position “that the invasion of Ukraine is a violation of international law.

“Minister Browne underscored Trinidad and Tobago’s advocacy for peace, highlighting that this country leans on the side of multilateralism, and as such hopes to see a swift diplomatic end to the hostilities.”

Browne also told Kurmaz he remained “very disturbed” over the loss of life on both sides of the conflict.

Meanwhile, Browne assured Ukraine’s ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya that TT maintained its condemnation of the ongoing Russian aggression.

He said, “Trinidad and Tobago, in keeping with its foreign policy, has consistently committed to territorial integrity of sovereign states, has aligned itself on the side of peace and continues to call for the use of all available diplomatic channels to end the violence against Ukraine.”

On March 2, 2022, TT joined with 140 other countries at the United Nations General Assembly in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The assembly voted 141-5 to condemn the invasion, with 35 nations abstaining.

The media release said the meeting between Browne and Kyslytsya also touched on the efforts to achieve peace, in particular, following the first Summit on Peace in Ukraine, which took place in Switzerland on June 15-16.

Browne said the “horror and condemnation” was not only a TT view, but also shared by Caricom.

“…The Caribbean community maintains the position that the ongoing hostility (is) a violation of territorial integrity and Heads of Government of Caricom continue to lament on the loss of life.”

The meeting came two days after Browne attended the screening of the Academy Award winning film 20 Days in Mariupol, hosted by Kyslytsya at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA).

Browne thanked the Kyslytsya for hosting the screening, and said seeing the reality of the war on film was both “troubling and disturbing”.

The war between both countries has had far-reaching worldwide effects including a rise in TT flour prices.

In 2022 Nutrimix Flour Mills and National Flour Mills both raised the prices of their products by as much as 33 per cent.

Nutrimix announced an increase of between 10 and 33 per cent on the prices of its Country Pride and Nutrimix Premium Grade brands.

NFM raised its wholesale prices by 33 per cent and suggested retail price by 28 per cent.

Both companies attributed the increase to rising external costs to the Russia-Ukraine war.

NFM’s CEO Ian Mitchell said the wheat shipments required to ensure a reliable supply of flour on supermarket shelves were “purchased at record high prices due to the crisis in Ukraine coupled with decisions by many exporting nations to halt the export of wheat.”

Wheat prices reached record highs moving from as low as US$8.55 per bushel in January 2022, to as high as US$14.06 per bushel in May 2022, an increase of 64 per cent in four months.

Flour prices were eventually gradually reduced in TT between July 2023 and May 2024.