And while the PM is on his globetrotting Tour, he met - we assume virtually - with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a tweet from President Zelenskyy, he said, quote, "The first but productive contact with Prime Minister of Belize, John Briceno. Agreed on the support for Ukraine in the UN and at regional platforms. I count on Belize joining the sanctions, refusing to register new Russian vessels and deregistering old ones." End quote.
Today, PM Briceno told us it was President Zelenskyy who asked for the meeting, and he happily obliged since the government sides with Ukraine in their time of war.
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"The president is the one that requested for that meeting and we were happy to meet with them. Belize felt very strongly that citizens should have the right to determination and we believe that the invasion into Ukraine by Russia is illegal and they're asking for our support. We promised that we could give whatever support that we can afford, of course diplomatically. We were also asked to look at our ship registry. we have agreed that we will not register anymore Russian ships and that if there's any way we can assist with some of the funding or illegal monies that some of the Russian oligarchs have been moving and if there's any going through our system then we would put a stop to it. So far, as far as we know, no such thing has happened."
