• About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Privacy
  • e-Paper
Sunday, July 6, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
The Mast Logo
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • e-Paper
  • Politics
  • Courts & Crime
  • Biz
  • Health
    obesity

    Obesity in South Africa: A nation at risk

    Seth Broekman UNFPA

    UNFPA, MAZ gang up against women, new-borns deaths

    syakalima

    Maternal, infant deaths still too high – Dr. Syakalima

    ‘Govt can’t allow ART patients to die’

    ‘Govt can’t allow ART patients to die’

  • Tech
    Zambia makes strides towards cyber security   

    Zambia makes strides towards cyber security  

    Texas becomes first state to ban DeepSeek, Rednote on government devices after fury over China-backed apps

    Texas becomes first state to ban DeepSeek, Rednote on government devices after fury over China-backed apps

    PARALYSED MAN FLIES VIRTUAL DRONE USING BRAIN IMPLANT.

  • Sports
  • World
  • Columnists
  • Opinion
  • Features
  • Home
  • e-Paper
  • Politics
  • Courts & Crime
  • Biz
  • Health
    obesity

    Obesity in South Africa: A nation at risk

    Seth Broekman UNFPA

    UNFPA, MAZ gang up against women, new-borns deaths

    syakalima

    Maternal, infant deaths still too high – Dr. Syakalima

    ‘Govt can’t allow ART patients to die’

    ‘Govt can’t allow ART patients to die’

  • Tech
    Zambia makes strides towards cyber security   

    Zambia makes strides towards cyber security  

    Texas becomes first state to ban DeepSeek, Rednote on government devices after fury over China-backed apps

    Texas becomes first state to ban DeepSeek, Rednote on government devices after fury over China-backed apps

    PARALYSED MAN FLIES VIRTUAL DRONE USING BRAIN IMPLANT.

  • Sports
  • World
  • Columnists
  • Opinion
  • Features
No Result
View All Result
The Mast Logo
No Result
View All Result
Home Features

Russia-Ukraine conflict, lessons of peace

By HARRY KALABA—CF President

March 10, 2025
in Features
0 0
0
Zelenskyy
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Russia-Ukraine conflict, lessons of peace

By HARRY KALABA—CF President

THE armed conflict between the Federation of Russia and Ukraine that clocked three years on  February 24, 2025 must be a lesson to all of us to one thing—always prioritize diplomacy to resolve differences.

This is because after all these years of fighting, all we have witnessed is massive senseless loss of lives and property, with nothing productive to show for it.

Deaths on both sides are alarming at more than one million combined on both sides with more casualties on the Ukrainian side, which has a lesser population than Russia and a smaller army.

All this would have been avoided if Ukraine had discontinued its plans to join NATO which Russia believes was a threat to its sovereignty and national security as it would eventually entail armed NATO troops on Ukrainian soil in the backyard of Russia.

Let me be clear here that I take no sides in the on-going conflict except the side of peace and diplomacy, which I understand well having served my country Zambia as Foreign Affairs Minister.

This move to have NATO so close to the Russian border has been rejected by Russia from 1991 after the fall of the USSR by Mikhael Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin and more vehemently by incumbent His Excellency Vladimir Putin.

The return to the Oval of President Donald Trump as no. 47 however, shines a line of hope in bringing this senseless conflict to an end, this is commendable.

If the Trump 2.0 method to find an end to the conflict works, we pray it does, it means that the loss of lives will end, the damage to infrastructure especially in Ukraine would end too.

It means the lines of production that have been disrupted especially in the agro sector will be re awakened and Ukraine would return to being an agro production leader yet again.

Before the conflict began, Ukraine was responsible for producing about 60 percent of the grain on the global level such as wheat, maize and rice to mention but a few.

Africa, our continent including parts of Asia were the biggest recipients of this grain whose production has drastically dropped since the conflict escalated.

You can’t engage in agriculture when farmers have become soldiers, neither can you produce fertiliser when the factories are producing arms.

It’s a pity though that countries like Zambia did not capitalise on Ukraine’s inability to agro produce during the conflict to expand our own agriculture sector.

I know it sounds callous but it is always a good thing in business to fill in a gaping hole, whether be it in the agriculture  sector.

Zambia right now produces only 3 million metric tonnes of maize to feed 20 million people with 90 percent of the 750,000 square kilometres of land being arable, which is a shame.

At the upturn of the conflict in Ukraine, Zambia should have started to plan to expand maize production by up to 10 million metric tons of maize to feed more people and make more money. That is how business works.

Ukraine is a hundred thousand square kilometres smaller than Zambia, they grew more than 60 million tonnes of maize while we literally grew nothing, with or without a drought.

These are some of the gaps Citizens First (AF) seeks to fill in when we get into the power in 2026—use agriculture as one of the major tools of economic growth, create jobs and reduce poverty and not harvest only 3 million tonnes of maize annually.

It is heartening to note that since President Trump appeared on the scene, peace seems to be shining around the corner, we hope it is.

We don’t want a WWWIII President Trump has constantly warned against after three years of mayhem because wars only breed destruction.

As a peaceful country that we are that has never been at war in 60 years, we should look at Ukraine and say to ourselves that we do not want to walk into that blood path.

We should cherish our peace and embrace it because we do not want to become a war-ravaged Ukraine, Gaza, Congo, Somalia, or Sudan.

Peace once lost can almost never be retrieved.

In terms of inter-continental diplomacy, we must be courageous enough to stand up and speak against ills, the way South Africa recently did regarding the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Diplomacy sometimes means speaking out for the ‘right’ and weak against the ‘wrong’ strong because justice suffers when we choose to ‘abstain.’

With the Russia-Ukraine conflict peaking at three years in February, we pray we are seeing an end to this conflict and many others in the world.

We pray for peace in Zambia, especially as our beloved country nears a Presidential election like no other next year, diplomacy must reign above armed conflict of any kind.

….

Source: Hon. Harry Kalaba—CF President and former Foreign Affairs Minister on the third anniversary of Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Previous Post

Do not call Zambia a poor country, call it a heavily exploited underdeveloped rich country.

Next Post

Do not be fooled: The delimitation talk is more than what it seems

Next Post
Do not be fooled: The delimitation talk is more than what it seems

Do not be fooled: The delimitation talk is more than what it seems

Please login to join discussion

Join Us Today

  • 349.6K
    Followers
    349.6K
    Followers
  • Click To Join
    Subscribers
    Click To Join
    Subscribers
  • 7K
    Followers
    7K
    Followers
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
The occult, the president, and the body: Understanding Zambia’s legal action against the Lungu family

The occult, the president, and the body: Understanding Zambia’s legal action against the Lungu family

June 30, 2025
Bishop Joseph Imakando

The voice that stirred a nation for change: Where is Bishop Joseph Imakando now?

April 16, 2025
Dr Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika on CDF

BURY ECL IN SOUTH AFRICA – Aka

June 19, 2025
SOLDIER ‘COOKS’ TEACHER

SOLDIER ‘COOKS’ TEACHER

May 14, 2025
MAINA SOKO MEDICAL CENTRE MAKES HISTORY WITH ZAMBIA’S FIRST AWAKE CRANIOTOMY: A TRIUMPH IN ADVANCED BRAIN SURGERY

MAINA SOKO MEDICAL CENTRE MAKES HISTORY WITH ZAMBIA’S FIRST AWAKE CRANIOTOMY: A TRIUMPH IN ADVANCED BRAIN SURGERY

2
The Macabre Tale of a Lusaka Woman and Her Husband’s Corpse

The Macabre Tale of a Lusaka Woman and Her Husband’s Corpse

0

President Obama Holds his Final Press Conference

0
WHAT IS MPOX?

WHAT IS MPOX?

0
Copper Queens, Morocco lock horns

Copper Queens, Morocco lock horns

July 5, 2025
High cost of living worries JCTR

High cost of living worries JCTR

July 4, 2025
Fred-Membe

‘Govt has smelt loss in Lungu burial case’ – M’membe

July 4, 2025
Woman raped by two men after drinking spree with husband

Woman raped by two men after drinking spree with husband

July 4, 2025

Recent News

Copper Queens, Morocco lock horns

Copper Queens, Morocco lock horns

July 5, 2025
High cost of living worries JCTR

High cost of living worries JCTR

July 4, 2025
Fred-Membe

‘Govt has smelt loss in Lungu burial case’ – M’membe

July 4, 2025
Woman raped by two men after drinking spree with husband

Woman raped by two men after drinking spree with husband

July 4, 2025
Mast Newspaper

Bringing you breaking news, in-depth stories, and exclusive content at lightning speed.

Follow Us

  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Privacy
  • e-Paper

© 2025 Published by Mast Media Limited

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • e-Paper
  • Politics
  • Courts & Crime
  • Biz
  • Health
  • Tech
  • Sports
  • World
  • Columnists
  • Opinion
  • Features

© 2025 Published by Mast Media Limited

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.