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The country was invaded by Russia in February 2022 and received arms donations from the United States and European nations in its defense. On a trip to China in April, Lula said these donors were fueling the conflict, while these governments argued that without their support, Ukraine would be massacred by Russia.
A US government spokesman even said at the time that the Brazilian position was “deeply problematic” and that the country was “automatically parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda” about the war, an accusation that Amorim dismissed as something “utterly absurd”. ”.
Pressured by major powers on both sides, Lula’s decision to send Amorim to Kiev is seen as an attempt to rebalance Brazil’s position in the conflict. The country has defended a “peace club” with neutral countries to negotiate a deal ending the war, which experts say will be quite difficult.
Despite Brazilian intentions to mediate peace negotiations between the two sides, the special secretary was not in Kiev at the time, drawing criticism. This Tuesday, Lula said he hoped Amorim would bring “signs of solutions” from Kyiv.
“Today (Tuesday) Amorim arrived in Ukraine. He had already traveled to Russia. I hope that Celso doesn’t bring me the solution, but that he brings me hints of solutions so that we can start talking about peace. We know what Putin wants, he.” “Now we will know what Zelenskyy wants. We will have tools to talk to other countries and, who knows, create the opportunity to stop this war,” said the President along with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, who was in Brasilia on an official visit.
Lula also once again condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This was already Brazil’s official stance at the United Nations when it supported resolutions against violations of Ukrainian territory, but after the malaise with the western powers it appeared with greater force in the President’s speeches.
“Ukraine cannot accept the occupation of the territory, it must resist. The European Union is right. Brazil and other countries are right in trying to find a middle ground,” Lula said Tuesday.
Reluctance to visit Kyiv?
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Zelenskyi phoned Lula and invited him to visit Kiev
Lula and Zelenskyy spoke on the phone in early March when the Brazilian President was invited to visit Kiev. Still, Amorim, a former chancellor of the early PT governments and now his direct adviser on international affairs, chose to only visit Moscow in April.
Asked about it, in an interview with the GloboNews channel, Amorim emphasized the difficulty of transport to the Ukrainian capital in the midst of the war, but also criticized the nature of the Ukrainian invitation, which is not about dialogue, but about showing the effects of the war in the country.
“We are ready to talk to anyone. Every time an invitation comes, it’s not an invitation to talk, it’s an invitation to go and see the war. We know war is a terrible thing. We’ve seen the Vietnam War, we’ve seen the wars in Afghanistan, we’ve seen the invasion of Iraq, we’ve seen all of that. I do not belittle the importance or the tragedy of the Ukrainian people. Invitations are always like that,” Amorim told the broadcaster, citing conflicts with the United States.
The speech came on the same day that Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko responded to Lula’s remarks in China in a post on Facebook.
In the post, he reiterated the invitation for Lula to visit his country and “understand the real causes and nature of Russian aggression and its implications for global security.”
Nikolenko also said that Ukraine is “watching with interest” Brazil’s peace efforts, but criticized “the approach that puts victims and aggressors on an equal footing and blames countries that are helping Ukraine defend itself against the deadly aggression it is targeting.” to promote war”.
In China, Lula’s speech read: “The US must stop promoting war and start talking about peace. It is necessary for the European Union to start talking about peace so that we can convince Putin and Zelenskyy that peace interests everyone and war is just a problem.
Earlier, Lula had stated that Ukraine could cede Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, in the name of peace, a proposal Kyiv rejected outright.
The delicate Brazilian balance
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Lula even claimed Ukraine could cede Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, in the name of peace.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022.
One of the arguments the Russian side is trying to use to justify the attack would be to prevent what they describe as a siege of their border with Ukraine’s possible entry into NATO a military alliance of 30 countries led by Western powers that has spread across the whole region of Eastern Europe, including today 14 countries of the former communist bloc.
Putin also accuses the Ukrainian government, without evidence, of genocide against Ukrainians of ethnic Russian descent living in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. He claims the invasion is trying to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine.
On the other hand, Ukraine and other observers see the war as an attempt by Russia to restore the former Soviet Union’s zone of control and influence, in what is seen as a disregard for Ukraine’s sovereignty, which should have the right to decide its fate and alliances.
Amidst this thorny conflict dividing the great powers, Itamaraty has kept his positions at the United Nations balanced. For example, Brazil supported two United Nations resolutions against Russia’s actions. The last letter of February condemned the Ukrainian territorial invasion and called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.
This resolution received 141 votes in favour, seven against and 32 abstentions among the 193 UN member states. The countries that voted against the text were Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali and Nicaragua. The abstentions included China, India, Mozambique, Angola and Cuba.
The Brazilian position was consistent with its tradition of following the principles set out in the UN Charter, respecting countries’ territorial integrity, promoting peace and preventing aggression between nations. The document signed by Brazil in 1945 is the treaty establishing the United Nations.
On the other hand, respect for the Charter also explains Brazil’s decision not to support the sanctions imposed on Russia by the Western powers. According to Itamaraty’s interpretation of this document, international sanctions are only legal if approved by the UN Security Council.
However, industrialized countries disagree with this interpretation and point out that the adoption of sanctions against Russia in the Security Council is not possible because the country is a permanent member and has a veto right.
“Brazil is interested in limiting sanctions to the collective security mechanism because of its inability to impose unilateral sanctions and fears being the target of this type of action. Powerful countries, on the other hand, are not afraid of being targets, and they are.” “Able to impose painful sanctions on others,” he told BBC News Brasil, a Brazilian diplomat.