López Obrador rules out energy crisis in Mexico due to conflict in Ukraine

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ruled out this Wednesday that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which involves Mexico’s neighbor, the United States, could lead to an energy crisis in the Latin American country.

“There is nothing to fear in terms of a lack of electricity in the event of an aggravation of the conflict between Russia, the United States or other countries due to the situation in Ukraine”, said the president at a press conference from the National Palace.

In terms of energy “we have no problem” because “we have contracts to receive gas and, in case the price of gas increases, we have other energies and other ways of generating electricity”, he stressed.

“We have hydroelectric plants, we have fuel oil in an extreme case and we have coal in an extreme case. But we would not run out of electricity, even if the price of gas increases”, added the Mexican leader.

Mexican position

As Mexican diplomats and officials have already expressed in recent days, López Obrador stressed that Mexico, current temporary member of the UN Security Council, is “in favor of peace and dialogue, of agreements.”

“Above all, that the powers, the hegemonic nations, act responsibly, and that the custom of interventionism, of invasions, be abandoned forever.”, said the Mexican president.

And I add: “We do not want invasions and we do not accept that one country invades another. There is no reason. It is contrary to the international law of nations and that is the policy that Mexico has maintained”.

The complex crisis

At the end of January, the Russian Navy announced large-scale exercises throughout the national territory and days later the United States government promised a severe response to any Russian incursion – which had already annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 – in Ukraine.

The UN Security Council met urgently this Monday to study the situation in Ukraine, after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine, all this amid rumors of an imminent invasion.

US President Joe Biden on Monday sanctioned the self-proclaimed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, after his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, announced that he recognized their independence from Ukraine.

In addition, new economic sanctions were announced for this Tuesday and Germany decided to block the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which transports gas from Russia to that country.

Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (CSND) decided on Wednesday to establish a state of emergency throughout the country after considering it a “armed aggression” the recognition by Russia of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.