Ukraine’s ministers protested plans to reopen the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale, in a statement published in Kyiv on Sunday.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha and Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna called the admission of Russian artists to international events unacceptable and asked the organizers to reconsider their decision.
“We don’t understand why this position is changing now, when Russia it refuses to stop the war, it refuses the efforts of peace and dialogue, and instead it continues to rely on terrorism and brutality,” they said.
“Under such circumstances, any policy change or easing of restrictions has no basis in reality and can only send a dangerous signal of support for aggression, tolerance of Russian war crimes and legitimization of the genocidal policy of the Russian aggressors,” the joint statement said.
They said the cultural sector must be protected against war propaganda, meaning there is no reason to remove sanctions; rather, doing so may send a dangerous signal of support for the aggression.
