Cambodia premier says Ukraine-Russia war being ‘Europeanized’

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The war between Ukraine and Russia is being “Europeanized,” given the major role that the EU is playing, the prime minister of Cambodia said on Wednesday.

“Some countries in Europe have contributed to Ukraine in the form of personnel, weapons, financing and other resources,” Hun Sen told the inauguration ceremony of a national highway, the state-run Khmer Times reported.

Arguing that such acts encourage the war to continue, he said "this no longer is a war between Ukraine and Russia but between Russia and Europe.”

Extending his support to peaceful negotiation between two warring parties, Sen said: “A war cannot be ended with another war.

“Cambodia has received enough lessons about wars … and only negotiation can settle this issue,” he said. “Cambodia, within the new world order, rejects the use of violence by one party against another. I hope all parties understand Cambodia’s position and thus do not force us to take sides.”

Since Russia's war on Ukraine began last week, it has been met with outrage from the international community, with a number of Western countries and their allies implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow. They are supplying Ukraine with weapons, have shut their airspace for Russian airlines, and banned Russian state-run media.

But Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said the "special military operation will continue until set goals are achieved."

He said the operation's main goal is "to protect the Russian Federation from the military threat posed by Western countries."

Russia is said to have intensified it bombardment of Ukrainian cities, and the number of people who have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries has reached 677,000, according to the UNHCR.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said humanitarian agencies and their NGO partners have launched an appeal to donors for $1.7 billion to support affected people inside Ukraine, and refugees from Ukraine in the region.