Quebec Green Party calls Russia's Demands 'Reasonable'

Quebec’s Green Party fell in hot water after controversial tweets Friday and Saturday calling on the West to accept certain Russian demands related to the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

Alex Tyrrell said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands for the denuclearization, “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine are “reasonable,” calling on Western governments to stop sending weapons to the country and opt for negotiations instead.

“I therefore call on the Canadian, American and NATO governments to stop sending arms to Ukraine and to support serious negotiations with Russia now to allow for an immediate deescalation and to save lives,” he wrote on Twitter Friday afternoon.

Tyrrell was further criticized after he wrote a Tweet linking a website which Twitter flagged as being “Russia state-affiliated."

The Green Party of Canada distanced itself from Tyrrell’s statements, saying the federal Green Party is distinct from the Quebec party and said Tyrrell’s remarks are not reflective of the federal party’s views.

“Alex Tyrrell holds no official position with the Green Party of Canada and does not speak for GPC,” interim party leader Amita Kuttner tweeted. “His views on the war in Ukraine are abhorrent. Russia is the aggressor.”

Tyrrell took to Twitter again Saturday , stressing that he was “speaking out for peace” to avoid further violence in Ukraine.

“To be clear; I condemn the Russian invasion and violence on both sides of this conflict. I am a pacifist who is against war,” he wrote, adding that “if we want peace, we need to negotiate and both sides need to compromise.”