Steps Needed to Improve Bilateral Relations Between Ukraine and Chile
Kateryna Vakarchuk
Ph.D. in Politics
Russia’s full-scale invasion of the independent and sovereign state of Ukraine has been going on for the third year. Have we, Ukrainians, gotten used to this war? No! And we will fight until we liberate our entire territory from Russian invaders. Today, it is very important for Ukraine to have support from all the world. After all, Ukraine needs not only a statement of the neutrality of someone’s foreign policy position, which, by the way, is declared by the majority of Latin American countries, but also more serious military, political, and humanitarian assistance with our partners’ joining the sanctions against Russia.
It should be noted that after February 24, 2022, the Russia’s attack on Ukraine was perceived differently in the countries of Latin America. They can be divided into three groups: those who supported Ukraine; those who sided with Russia; those who seek to maintain neutrality.
One of the most urgent questions is whether today, during the Russian aggression, we should hope for more substantial international support for Ukraine by the countries of Latin America, including in the information space? I mean large-scale events as demonstrations, meetings, fundraising, cooperation with diasporas, etc. At this, the problem of active Russian propaganda in Latin American countries cannot be put on the back burner.
In Latin America itself, the quality of the media product is quite low, but Russia supplies visually and technologically high-quality content, sparing no expense. As a rule, consumers tend to choose higher-quality content, although in most cases it is saturated with Russian propaganda and disinformation. Thus, RT and Sputnik have a large audience in such social networks as Facebook and Twitter. For example, RT en Español has 18 million followers on Facebook. Spanish-language media often publish comments by official representatives of the Russian Federation or their allies, but official representatives of Ukraine are not quoted. So, in the end, only those narratives that are beneficial to Russia are broadcast.
President of Chile Gabriel Boric Condemned Russia’s Large-Scale Invasion of Ukraine
Chile supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, emphasizing the need to observe the norms and principles of international law. Chile’s delegation also approved all the UN General Assembly resolutions positive for Ukraine.
In early July 2023, the Presidents of Chile and Ukraine had a telephone conversation, during which they discussed the possibility of involving Chilean specialists in demining the territory of our country. The President of Chile assured that Ukraine can count on his country in matters of humanitarian assistance. Such support for Ukraine can be noted not only from the leadership of Chile — the Chilean society is also unanimous in its views. This was confirmed, in particular, by local protesters who in February 2022 gathered in front of the Russian embassy in the Chilean capital to condemn the actions of the Russian aggressor.
It is important to understand that Chile’s foreign policy is multi-vector and equidistant from the main international world actors. Despite the fact that the current President of Chile is a politician of the new generation of left forces, he does not use ideological, populist anti-American rhetoric.
Regarding Bilateral Ukrainian-Chilean Relations
Firstly, it should be noted that an additional positive step towards strengthening Ukrainian-Chilean relations was the approval by the bicameral Parliament of Chile of the decision to give the President of Ukraine the opportunity to address Chilean lawmakers via video.
By the way, a certain part of the pro-government Chilean political forces did not condemn Russia’s aggression, nor did they express their support for Ukraine. This was manifested, in particular, in the public criticism of the mentioned video address of Volodymyr Zelenskyi to the deputies of the National Congress of Chile in April 2023.
Secondly, Chile supports Ukraine on international platforms. Gabriel Boric participated in the XXVIII Ibero-American Summit, which took place on March 24–25, 2024 in the Dominican Republic, where he called the Russian invasion unacceptable, saying that the world should not get used to this war. At this, he emphasized that in this case there is a gross violation of the principles of the UN Charter.
At the same time, Gabriel Boric himself has already participated in two video conferences with Volodymyr Zelenskyi (July 2022 and March 2023) and had a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (September 2023), when he assured of his unchanged position on supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Our foreign policy ministries also support the constant dialogue: in particular, in August 2022 and May 2023, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Antonia Urrejola and Alberto van Klaveren, respectively, had phone talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba.
Thirdly, as a continuation of the meeting in New York between the Presidents of Ukraine and Chile, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak had a telephone conversation with Political and International Affairs Advisor to the Office of the President of the Republic of Chile Carlos Figueroa. They discussed further actions for the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, in particular, preparations for the inaugural Global Peace Summit.
In the context of Ukraine’s efforts to ensure global food security, the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine called on Chile to join the humanitarian initiative “Grain from Ukraine”, which our state implements together with the UN World Food Programme and within which Ukraine supplies grain to the poorest countries.
When President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi met with Gabriel Boric in New York on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, he expressed his gratitude for the consistent position of Chile, in particular, within the UN General Assembly regarding the condemnation of Russian aggression, while noting that Ukraine is determined to deepen cooperation with the countries of Latin America. In this context, the parties discussed the possibility of organizing the “Ukraine-Latin America” summit. In addition, the President of Ukraine emphasized the importance of Chile’s full involvement in the implementation of Ukraine’s Peace Formula and Chile’s participation in the future Global Peace Summit. The leaders of the two countries coordinated further steps to expand bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and Chile in the international arena.
Steps Needed to Improve Bilateral Relations Between Ukraine and Chile:
- to involve Chile in the Crimean Platform and Ukraine’s Peace Formula;
- to arrange a meeting of the Presidents of two countries, both in Chile and in Ukraine;
- to invite Chilean professionals to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine, in investment projects, to act as mediators on various platforms;
- to establish closer relations with Ukrainians living in Chile, to provide appropriate assistance in the creation of relevant organizations;
- to promote the consolidation of the Ukrainian diaspora and support the network of such organizations in Chile;
- within the framework of Ukraine’s new strategy for Latin American countries to counter Russian propaganda and disinformation, form long-term plans for the possible development of contacts with Spanish-speaking countries;
- to actively and persistently oppose Russian narratives in the media, in particular, to promote broadcasting Ukrainian news in Spanish on Chilean TV channels, as well as to achieve the restriction of Russian content in Spanish;
- to form Ukrainian narratives in the Chilean media space, social networks, etc.;
- to intensify cooperation between analytical, academic and university centers of both countries for the organization of joint events, conferences, discussions, etc.;
- to encourage Ukrainians to study Spanish in Ukrainian institutions of higher education, to promote exchange of students from both countries, participation in various projects and studios;
- to achieve regular visits of Latin American journalists and military experts to Ukraine, through whom to convey to Latin Americans important information about the culture, history, politics of Ukraine and the consequences of Russian aggression.
Useful would be Ukraine’s participation in the creation of Spanish- and Portuguese-language media for Latin America at the European Union level, as well as regular addresses by Ukrainian speakers in the Spanish- and Portuguese-language world media, such as BBC Mundo and BBC Brasil, DW Español and DW Brasil, France 24 Español, CNN Brasil and CNN en Español.
In the important case of countering Russian propaganda and disinformation, it is necessary to mention the invitation to Ukraine of a group of well-known journalists and opinion leaders from Latin American countries. Creation of the “Connecting Continents” project, thanks to which the Public Interest Journalism Lab invites journalists from Latin America, Africa and Asia to tell their readers about Ukraine, can be considered an unprecedented and noticeable positive step. Journalists’ meetings took place in the period from May to September 2023. The first visit of Latin American journalists and intellectuals, famous and influential in their countries, took place in May 2023.
