Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that his country would propose to the United Nations next week in New York to set up a “peacekeeping mission” in Ukraine, explaining that “it is about urgently seeking an agreement to end the war in Ukraine.”

During an official speech on the occasion of the National Day, he stressed that “the peacekeeping mission should immediately seek an end to hostilities in Ukraine and the start of direct negotiations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

The initiative, which Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard will present to the United Nations General Assembly, proposes the establishment of a Commission for Dialogue and Peace, composed – “if it is acceptable and if there is a will” – Pope Francis, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Some 150 leaders are expected to arrive in New York next week to attend General Assembly meetings.