Russia's war with Ukraine made it a global pariah — but it still has friends in Mexico

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to have spent much of his Tuesday phone conversation with his Mexican counterpart discussing Ukraine.

According to the official Canadian readout, "the Prime Minister invited the President to participate in the 'Stand Up for Ukraine' campaign pledging event on April 9, which he is co-convening with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced people."

There was no word on whether Mexican Pres. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador — usually known as AMLO — accepted the invitation. He has appeared to lack enthusiasm for supporting Ukraine and his MORENA party has had a number of pro-Putin eruptions since the February 24 invasion.

On Tuesday — in what Mexican critics of Lopez Obrador's "Fourth Transformation" movement called a new low — the newspaper that's often seen as the unofficial organ of the ruling party shocked many Mexicans with its front-page take on the murder of civilians in Bucha and other newly-liberated cities in the periphery of Kiev.

"Russia demands the UN tackle staged massacre in Ukraine," reads the headline in La Jornada.

Subheadings repeated various Kremlin claims — including one alleging the corpses in Bucha are living actors and that one of the victim's hands can be seen moving in a video. (It can't.)

While much of the world was reacting with outrage to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a group of legislators from Mexico's governing MORENA party and the allied Labour Party decided it was a perfect time to set up a new "friendship group" with Russia.

Russia's ambassador to Mexico Viktor Koronelli celebrated the occasion on March 23 by meeting with about two dozen pro-government lawmakers while opposition members protested outside the chamber with signs saying "No to war."

"For us it's a sign of support, of friendship, of solidarity," said Koronelli, "in these complicated times for my country, facing not only a special military operation in Ukraine but also a tremendous media war."

"Russia didn't start this war. It is finishing it," he told his Mexican hosts.

Speaking on behalf of the governing party, Congressman Armando Contreras Castillo lavished praise on the Soviet Union, which he said had given Mexico "a new way of thinking about society and economy, a new way of understanding the world and life." Castillo said Mexico also wanted to draw closer to the modern Russia of Vladimir Putin.

"Our goal is today to strengthen Mexican-Russian relations," he said. "We are ready to do everything to fortify the friendship between Mexico and Russia and establish new ties."

Mexico has a highly professional diplomatic corps and currently holds a seat at the UN Security Council. There, Mexico "has continuously condemned the acts of aggression perpetrated by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, while recognizing its sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity," said Oscar Mora of the Mexican Embassy in Ottawa.

And at the General Assembly, Mexico co-sponsored with France a motion that blamed Russia for the humanitarian disaster in Ukraine.