Kenya Declines Zelenskyy’s Request to Address Parliament

April 12, 2022 (EIRNS)—On April 12, a senior official of Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told a major Kenyan newspaper, The Nation, that Nairobi had declined a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address Kenya’s parliament. Since Ukraine has other diplomatic channels available, the official said, “Why would they want to address the Kenyan Parliament, for instance?” Is there a precedence?”

The official reported that Kenya, particularly due to its status as an African representative on the UN Security Council, does not want to appear to be taking sides in the conflict, since it hopes “to see an end to the war.” The official explained: “We have made principled decisions which we took from an African position. We are there [at the UNSC] as Africa representatives.”

The African Union has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but has opposed the heavy sanctions other nations have imposed on Russia.

Kenya abstained on the UN General Assembly vote on April 7 to suspend Russia’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council, which Russia countered by terminating its membership in the UNHRC altogether.