On Tuesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva decried Russia’s breach of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and again called for mediation to stop the war, which the Ukrainian government criticized.
At lunch, Lula told Romanian President Klaus Iohannis that a coalition of neutral nations must help broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.
He said over the weekend that Western allies were extending the battle by delivering armaments to Ukraine.
A White House official accused Lula of” parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without looking at the facts” On Tuesday, the White House said Lula’s” tone was not one of neutrality.”
A source in Washington said U.S. officials informally expressed the Biden administration’s concern with Lula’ss criticism of Ukraine’s weaponry to Brazilian counterparts.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters question on the purported contacts. Still, it was late on TuesdayBiden’siden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had spoken with his Brazilian counterpart, Celso Amorim, “bout “several bilateral and global issues, inclRussia’sssia’s war against Uk”aine.”
Amorim had previously called the U.S. crit”cism “absurd” and stated that Brazil did not support Russia.
“Brazil defends the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Amorim told Globo TV. “As long as there are no talks, the ideal peace for the Ukrainians and the Russians will not happen. There must be concessions.” On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Lula in Brasilia and thanked him for his peace efforts.
Lula offered to mediate the war when Russia invaded the neighboring countries in February 2022. Based on Brazil’s non-intervention and neutrality, his proposal calls for a group of states not involved in the war to talk to Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine asked Lula to visit the war-torn country on Tuesday to see the effects of the Russian invasion, criticizing his plan for treating “the victim and the aggressor” equally.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said Ukraine was interested in Lula’s war resolution efforts. However, he dismissed Lula’s weekend claim that arming Kyiv prolongs the war.
The EU rejected Lula’s claim that Ukraine and Russia caused the war. EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano said all help was for Ukraine’s “legitimate defense.”
Lula has stated Russia should return territory it invaded last year, but he has recommended that Ukraine sacrifice Crimea, occupied by the Russian military in 2014. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected this idea.
Zelenskiy has encouraged international leaders to support his 10-point peace plan, which includes reinstating Ukraine’s ancient boundaries with Russia.
