Chicago January 22, 2025
Russia Urges Trump to Respect Panama Canal Agreement
Russia’s foreign ministry has called on President Donald Trump to reaffirm the current international agreement surrounding the Panama Canal and leave it under Panama’s control. Alexander Shchetinin, director of Russia’s foreign ministry’s Latin American department, expects Trump to respect the canal’s neutrality, as outlined in two 1977 treaties between the US and Panama ¹.
Trump has criticized the agreement, claiming the US was “ripped off” and that China dominates the canal. However, the canal’s administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez, says China is not in control and all nations are treated equally under a neutrality treaty.
The Panama Canal is a 51-mile maritime trade route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The US built the canal in the early 1900s to facilitate commercial and military vessel transit. The canal spares ships a 7,000-mile journey around Cape Horn.
Russia’s foreign ministry emphasizes that 40 countries, including Russia, have joined a protocol agreement recognizing the canal’s neutrality and committing to keep it “safe and open.” Shchetinin stresses that the US and Panama must respect the current international legal regime and protect the canal from any threats to its neutrality ¹.
Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has rejected Trump’s comments, stating that the canal is and will continue to be under Panama’s control, with respect to its permanent neutrality.
