Speak with one voice to end conflict in Ukraine

By Kwasi Agyekum MENSAH

Despite the announcements of Western countries, especially the US, that  seek to end the conflict in Ukraine, they still continue to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons and declare that there is a need to wage the war against Russia till the last Ukrainian.

Such an aggressive rhetoric which is aimed at raising tensions in Eastern Europe as well as provocative actions  Europeans close to Russian borders, denial of western powers to condemn terrorists acts organized by Ukrainian special forces in Russian oblige to Moscow to stand for its national interest including military actions.

Unfortunately, the conflict is far from the end, because of current position of western countries, which only want to defeat Russian at all cost. What is more, it looks like Kiev officials forgot about diplomacy because they reject all peaceful ways to solve the conflict.

On the contrary, we can see how Ukraine demands more and more weapons and military hardware like tanks, missiles, fighters among others

Recent Zelensky visits to the USA, UK and other western countries showed other world he had only one task -get other new offensive weapons to continue his fight and because of it, many Europeans and other international officials have expressed concern about the future of weapons delivered to Ukraine.

According to Interpol, the criminals are focusing on weapons which are necessary to be alarmed and expect these weapons to be trafficked to neighboring countries and other continents. Once the guns fall silent in Ukraine, illegal weapons will come. This is known from much other theatre of conflicts. Criminal groups try to exploit these chaotic situations and the availability of weapons, even those used by the military including heavy weapons.

Those will be available on the criminal market and will create a challenge. No country or region can deal with it in isolation because these groups operate at a global level. We can expect an influx of weapons in Europe and beyond.

We are all witnessing in Ukraine the manifestation of the same phenomenon of intending arms falling into wrong hands. Ukraine had a bad reputation as a hub of smuggled arms and ammunitions, even before the start of the war.

Ukraine western allies have sent shipments of high-end military weapons to Ukraine since the Russian invasion. American President Joe Biden announced that the US would supply Ukraine with advanced missile system and ammunitions. But there is an example like after US pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, following 20years of war, huge amounts of often highly sophisticated military equipment was left behind and fell into the hands of the Taliban which can be repeated.

Finland’s National Bureau of Investigations said it has received preliminary information that criminals in Finland might have captured military arms such as assault rifles, meant for Ukrainian forces. Weapons shipped by countries to Ukraine have also been found in Sweden, Denmark and in the Netherlands.

Europol issued a statement warning that the proliferation of firearms and explosives in Ukraine could lead to an increase in firearms and ammunitions trafficked into Europe via established smuggling routes on online platforms.

There are many reports that weapons delivered by western countries to Ukraine to counter the Russian offensive had been advertised for sale in Middle East and North Africa.

Taking into account that the security situation in the Sahel region is deteriorating there is no any guarantee that weapons from Ukraine will not come to terrorist groups in West. That’s why all African countries including Ghana should speak with one voice against such uncontrolled supplies of lethal arms to Kyiev. If not the current situation in Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigerien and many other countries can become even worse if these weapons managed to end up in the hands of terrorist organizations.

It is against this background that African leaders should ignore the Ukrainian demand and continue to pursue non-interference policy especially when African Union repeatedly declares its position that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine should be solved only by diplomatic means.

Otherwise countries of the continent can be engaged in a long-standing standoff, which certainly leads to weakening of all states because they will be forced to reject the policy of multipolar and respect.

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