Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Monday justified the presence of the Russian army in last Saturday’s Independence Parade by arguing that it is tradition to invite all countries.

“In the parade, contingents from Russia marched and paraded. They made a scandal. It caught my attention because they were also parading from China and there wasn’t that much scandal, it was all Russia. All governments with which Mexico has relations are invited, that always happens,” the president said during his morning conference.

His comments come after the controversy that arose on Saturday during the military parade commemorating Mexico’s independence, with criticism of the participation of Russia and Nicaragua.

After last Saturday’s civil-military parade on the occasion of Mexico’s 213 years of independence, in which about fifteen Russian soldiers took part, the Ukrainian ambassador to Mexico, Oksana Dramaretska, believed that the presence of that delegation had “stained” the event ”, because “Their boots and hands of war criminals are stained with” Ukrainian blood, as he wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

“How coherent is your policy of neutrality and your condemnation of the aggression against my country, Mr. López Obrador?”, the diplomat accused on the social network X (formerly known as Twitter).

But López Obrador rejected the criticism and emphasized that it is customary to invite all countries to the parade, as did former right-wing president Felipe Calderón (2006-2012).

“It was a scandal, we have relations with all the countries in the world, everyone is invited, but since I became president it has not been like that,” he noted.

The controversy has grown as López Obrador has taken an ambiguous position on the war in Ukraine, condemning the Russian invasion but also blaming the West for failing to avoid the conflict with diplomacy.

The President explained that the invitations during the parade are the responsibility of the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena).

“On September 15, committees came, including defense ministers, from two or three countries and military representations from many countries in the world. The commander of the United States Northern Command was there on the 15th, in an interview with the Secretary of Defense and other military representatives,” he said. (JO)