MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday panned U.S. military aid to Ukraine, suggesting it was "irrational," and stepped up criticism of the war effort as he urged Washington to devote more resources to helping Latin American countries.
Lopez Obrador has long called on the United States to devote more funds to helping economic development in Central America and the Caribbean in order to ease migratory pressures.
During his regular daily press conference, Lopez Obrador criticized the U.S. Congress for not freeing up money for the region, before making reference to wrangling last week on a stopgap funding bill that stripped out further aid for Ukraine.
"I was just looking at how now they're not authorizing aid for the war in Ukraine," he said. "But how much have they destined for the Ukraine war? 30 to 50 billion dollars for the war. Which is the most irrational thing you can have. And damaging."
"So they do have to modify their strategy and learn respect. It's not the time for them to ignore Mexican authorities," Lopez Obrador added.
The Ukrainian embassy in Mexico declined to comment. The U.S. State Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The leftist Lopez Obrador has sought to keep Mexico neutral in the war, and criticized Western military aid for Kyiv. He has also proposed peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Two weeks ago the president defended the presence of a Russian military unit in a weekend parade marking Mexico's independence day, following sharp criticism that his country had given a platform to forces that invaded Ukraine.
Nonetheless, his government has backed some major U.N. resolutions criticizing Russia's role in the conflict.