President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, 2024.       X/ @malcolmx653459

Mexico City, September 19 (RHC)-- Mexico’s President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected an invitation from President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit Ukraine.

Sheinbaum, who will become Mexico’s first female president on October 1st, stated that her country’s constitution clearly specifies that Mexican foreign policy is based on non-intervention in external affairs and the peaceful resolution of disputes.

Earlier, in an interview with Excelsior newspaper, Zelensky said he would have preferred that current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) visit his country instead of inviting Russian military personnel to the parade commemorating Mexican Independence.

“We respect your country and hope that Mexico will officially visit us, and of course, Ukraine will send a high-ranking official to attend the inauguration of the president,” he told the Excelsior journalists.

During his tenure, President AMLO criticized Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine but also questioned the U.S. sending weapons to Ukraine.  He has strongly urged Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow, something that Zelensky has refused to do so far.

Sheinbaum reiterated that “our Constitution is very clear, noble, and pacifist,” and thus her position will be to “seek a peaceful resolution to any conflict.”  She also warned that her administration will maintain “relations with countries that have not caused any offense against Mexico.”

“The best foreign policy is domestic policy,” the Mexican president-elect said, hinting that her official travels will be limited, similar to Lopez Obrador, who only traveled abroad seven times during his six-year term -- five times to the U.S., once to Central America, and once to South America.

“My main task is to govern Mexico.  I will attend some international events that I consider important, but I am not going to travel much because my responsibility is here,” Sheinbaum reiterated.