President urges Russia and Ukraine to engage in peace talks

Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has urged Russia and Ukraine to engage in talks to resolve conflicts between the two countries. 

In an address to the nation on Sunday evening, President Solih said the ongoing war was causing immense pain to the Ukrainian people, and said that he sympathized with their plight. 

He said that Maldives, like the rest of the international community, urged Russia and Ukraine to resume talks. 

President Solih said that while the war may be happening thousands of miles away from Maldives, the economic impact of the conflict was being felt by countries, near and far. 

He said that the impact of the war was being felt in Maldives as fell. 

President Solih said that Russia and Ukraine were one of the top sources of tourist arrivals to the Maldives, and that the war would have an adverse effect on the Maldivian economy. 

He said that Maldives’ stand on the Russia-Ukraine war was clear, and that Maldives’ foreign policy was based on respect for the independence and sovereignty of all countries. 

“This is the foundation of international relations written on the UN Charter in black and white. As a small island nation, we have always advocated for international relations to be maintained upon this foundation. This is the standard we believe in,” he said. 

Maldives was one of 141 countries which condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and called for an immediate stop to military action and for Russian forces to leave Ukraine, at the UN General Assembly on March 2.  

President Solih said that in making the stand, Maldives had renewed its call for the protection of the independence and sovereignty of small and relatively less powerful countries. 

He said that whenever or however the war may end, it would take years for Ukraine to recover and rebuild. 

And it would take as long for the world to recover from the damage to the global economy, he said. 

“Therefore, the government is taking necessary measures to mitigate the impact of damages from the Ukraine conflict,” he said. 

President Solih said that the Finance Ministry had conducted projections of the damage to the economy if the war dragged on and the worst-case scenario took place, and was implementing necessary measures. 

Meanwhile, the Tourism Ministry and Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) is analyzing potential changes to the tourism sector due to the war, and working on finding new source markets, he said. 

President Solih said that the government would continue efforts to facilitate the return of Maldivians living in areas expected to be affected by the war. 

Noting that it remained unclear when the Maldivian students who had been studying in Ukraine would be able to return to the country and resume their studies, President Solih said that the Foreign Ministry and Higher Education Ministry were collaborating to find ways to ensure the students complete their education.