During a state visit to Portugal, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva again criticized Russia’s violation of the integrity of the Ukrainian state. From this, however, he did not extract any demands for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, but called for peace talks.
Indirectly he put attacker and attacked on the same level. “Russia does not want to stop and Ukraine does not want to stop,” he said today in Lisbon, reported Portuguese news agency Lusa. Brazil wants to work with partners to facilitate peace between Russia and Ukraine. He didn’t give details.
In January, Lula proposed an international mediation involving Brazil and China. Kiev categorically rejected a suggestion by Brasilia that Ukraine should give up the Crimean peninsula, which had been annexed by Russia, in the name of peace. A few days ago, the South American criticized the military support given to Ukraine by NATO and other countries. On a visit to China, he said: “America must stop promoting war and start talking about peace. The EU needs to start talking about peace.”
The United States then harshly criticized Lula. “Brazil has repeated Russian and Chinese propaganda without looking at the facts,” National Security Council communications director John Kirby said in Washington on Monday. It is deeply problematic when Brazil claims that the US and Europe are not interested in peace or are co-responsible for war.
Lula’s host, the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, highlighted the differences between the two countries on this issue. Ukraine has the right to defend itself and liberate its Russian-occupied territory, he stressed. Only on this basis is lasting peace possible.