Panama complains to UN over Donald Trump's canal threat

The canal is and will remain Panama's,

Mulino said in response to Trump's threats

We didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back,

Trump said

We remain steadfast in our commitment to comply with all laws and regulations, fully exercising our contractual responsibilities,

the firm said

Dialogue is always the way to clarify the points mentioned without undermining our right, total sovereignty and ownership of our Canal,

Mulino said

[The ... The U.S. and Panama] must protect the canal from any threat to the neutrality regime,

Shchetinin said

There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration,

he added, taking issue with Trump’s suggestion that

The United States… spent more money than was ever spent on a project before and lost 38,000 lives in the building of the Panama Canal,

Trump said at his inaugural address on Monday

We expect that during the expected discussions between the leadership of Panama and U.S. President Donald Trump on issues of control over the Panama Canal … the parties will respect the current international legal regime of this key waterway,

said Alexander Shchetinin, director of the Latin American department of the Russian foreign ministry, according to Russian state media

It might be that you'll have to ... We need them for economic security."

and adding