The Azov Battalion's political wing is the National Corps Party, a far-right political party, which holds seats in local city councils across Ukraine.
The Canadian media portrays the Ukrainians as the good-guys and the Russians as the bad-guys. Bombing and ethnic cleansing has been carried out by Kiev for almost a decade against Russian-speaking civilians, who live in areas which were formerly part of Ukraine. No information is given about the UN-reported ethnic cleansing and war crimes committed in the Eastern provinces of Ukraine by the Ukrainian forces, which have been ongoing since 2014. This propaganda leads some Canadians to demand the freedom of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion.
Need for peaceful resolution
There is an immediate need for a ceasefire in Ukraine, and diplomatic negotiations to end the conflict. Canada does not need to be a partner to a conflict that can be resolved. Just as in the case of the Iraq war in 2003, Canada can make decisions independent of US pressure.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forth effort to broker peace in Ukraine with his 12-point peace plan. Xi spoke with with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on April 26 by telephone, and assured Zelenskyy that Beijing would not add "fuel to the fire" of the war, and also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Li Hui, China's special representative on Eurasian affairs, will visit Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany and Poland this week as Beijing tries its hand at peacemaker.
Celso Amorim, a former foreign minister and top adviser to Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, met with Zelenskyy on May 10 in Kyiv, as da Silva continues his push for peace in the Ukraine war.
"Brazil is making a significant effort... to form a coalition of countries, including China and India, to negotiate a peace agreement," says President Luiz Ina'cio Lula da Silva.
Continuing the war and the resulting destruction of families and infrastructure is not the only option for the West to impose on Ukraine.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist
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