GUYANA has joined with numerous other partners in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The country is also exploring how that crisis may impact the stability of the Latin America and Caribbean and global peace, generally.

On Friday night, the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation announced that subject Minister Hugh Todd spoke with the Foreign Ministers of Colombia and Brazil to discuss the ongoing crisis.

These talks are part of a string of engagements Guyanese authorities have been holding with regional and international partners to discuss Russia’s actions. Already, Guyana has been participating in talks at the United Nations’ (UN) level.

Following the engagements on Friday, Colombia’s Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Marta Ramírez said that Guyana and Colombia discussed how the Ukraine- Russia crisis would impact the security of Europe and the stability of the Latin America and Caribbean region.

She said this via her official Twitter account, where she also noted that Guyana and Colombia will continue to engage the Organization of American States (OAS) and the UN, and support efforts at maintaining global peace and security.

Similarly, a tweet from Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also addressed Minister Todd’s engagement with Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Alberto Franco França.

According to the Brazilian Ministry, the two ministers reaffirmed their concern regarding the military operations in Ukraine. They also both agreed that the hostilities need to be suspended immediately and both parties should seek a diplomatic solution to their issues.

On Saturday, Russian forces continued to attack Ukraine with citizens in the capital city, Kyiv, bracing for missile attacks from Russia.

Reuters reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces were repelling Russian troops advancing on Kyiv on Saturday, as Western nations announced they were shipping more weapons to help the country’s outgunned military.

Importantly, too, the United States of America (USA), Canada and key European countries, including Germany, have agreed to remove “selected Russian banks” from the Swift payment system, the countries announced on Saturday.

Swift, the UK Guardian noted, is the world’s main international payments network. Several countries have already expressed support for locking Russia out of the platform, and Germany, which had previously opposed the measure, lent its support earlier today.

While those countries rolled out more sanctions against Russia, Guyana joined several regional partners in a Declaration on “The situation in Ukraine” which noted countries’ alarm at Russia’s actions and condemned the aggression and hostilities.

The Declaration, inter alia, also reiterated the importance of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and of respect for the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

This Declaration was presented to the OAS by the Permanent Missions of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahama, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the USA and Venezuela.

Though Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has signalled his support of Russia’s actions, it is important to note that the OAS has, however, recognised the envoy of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s official delegate to the group. This explains why Venezuela is part of the OAS Declaration.

The OAS was also among one of the first bodies to condemn Russia’s actions when the invasion first started on Thursday.

Later, the Government of Guyana and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) issued statements too. Those statements strongly condemned Russia’s actions and called for a return to global peace and security.