The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, will be in Buenos Aires this Sunday for the inauguration of Javier Milei as president of Argentina, the main local media coincidentally stated this Thursday.
Citing sources from the new government and Ukrainian diplomacy, the Argentine media indicated that the European president will arrive in the early hours of this Sunday.
Zelenski and Milei spoke three days after the ultraliberal’s resounding victory over Peronism, and the Argentine president-elect took the opportunity to invite the Ukrainian to Buenos Aires. That Zelensky finally accepted the invitation was a surprise even for Milei’s entourage.
Zelensky’s trip, the first to Latin America since the war with Russia broke out in February 2022, marks a radical change in Argentina’s position in the conflict. While the government of Alberto Fernández, who visited Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin days before the invasion, showed a certain equidistance at the start of the war, Milei takes a strong position on the Ukrainian side.
Zelensky, who repeatedly complained about the ambiguous position of many Latin American countries, was already clear after his first contact with Milei.
“I just spoke with the elected president of Argentina, Javier Milei, to thank him for his clear stance, without counterweights between good and evil. Simply clear support for Ukraine. That is noticed and appreciated by Ukrainians,” Zelensky wrote on the social network X after the conversation with his South American counterpart.
Zelenski and Milei already talked about organizing a summit between Ukraine and Latin America, something that at the Mercosur level was impossible, despite the proposal of the president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, who will also be in Buenos Aires on Sunday.
Other heads of state or government to attend Milei’s inauguration will be the Paraguayan Santiago Peña, the Ecuadorian Daniel Noboa, the Hungarian Viktor Orban, as well as the King of Spain, Felipe VI. Israel will send its Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, and the United Kingdom will send one of its vice-chancellors, David Rutley.
The US delegation will be led by the Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm. The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, will finally not travel to Buenos Aires, as will the Brazilian Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who did not accept Milei’s invitation. Who will be there is former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, leading a delegation of 34 people.
