Bridging Divides: Latin America and Europe Unite in Summit to Overcome Ukraine’s War

Latin America and Europe have begun a summit to bring their positions closer regarding the war in Ukraine. The summit is part of a broader geopolitical battle with Russia and China, and Western leaders have been making overtures to Latin American nations to win their support. The European Union has been sending senior figures to Latin America, such as European Council President Charles Michel and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to press countries in the so-called Global South to support the EU-U.S. stance on Ukraine.

However, South America has attracted particular attention from Western leaders in recent months as Ukraine’s allies roam the world in search of critical minerals for high-tech supply chains, as well as ammunition and weapons to help Kyiv recover Russian-occupied territory.The conflict in Ukraine began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and began arming and abetting separatists in the Donbas region in the country’s southeast. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 marked a dramatic escalation of the eight-year-old conflict and signified a historic turning point for European security.
The war has hastened Ukraine’s push to join Western political blocs, including the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) . NATO leaders have said that there will be a periodic review of Ukraine’s progress toward reaching the alliance’s standards on democracy and military