Brazil’s Lula condemns invasion of Ukraine, touts peace

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has condemned the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity by Russia and known as for mediation to finish the warfare – a peace initiative criticised by the Ukrainian authorities.

Talking at a lunch with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Lula mentioned a gaggle of impartial nations should come collectively to assist dealer peace between Russia and Ukraine.

His feedback got here after he set off a storm amongst Western allies on the weekend when he mentioned they had been prolonging the preventing by supplying arms to Ukraine.

A White Home spokesman accused Lula of “parroting Russian and Chinese language propaganda with out wanting on the details”.

On Tuesday, the White Home mentioned Lula’s “tone was not certainly one of neutrality”.

In Washington, an individual accustomed to the matter mentioned US officers have privately made clear the Biden administration’s displeasure to Brazilian counterparts about Lula’s criticism of the arming of Ukraine.

The White Home didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters query on the purported contacts.

Becoming a member of the confrontation, Lula’s overseas coverage adviser Celso Amorim known as the US criticism “absurd” and insisted Brazil didn’t share Russia’s place.

“Brazil defends the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Amorim advised Globo TV.

However he added: “So long as there aren’t any talks, the best peace for the Ukrainians and the Russians won’t occur. There have to be concessions.”

Russian International Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Lula in Brasilia on Monday and thanked him for his peace efforts, remarking that Brazil and Russia shared views on the year-old battle in Ukraine.

Lula has pitched himself as a peace dealer to finish the warfare, which started when Russia invaded the neighbouring nation in February 2022.

His proposal, primarily based on Brazil’s custom of non-intervention and neutrality, requires a gaggle of countries not concerned within the warfare to interact each Russia and Ukraine in talks.

Ukraine has criticised Lula’s proposal as a result of it treats “the sufferer and the aggressor” the identical means, and on Tuesday invited the Brazilian president to the war-torn nation to see for himself the implications of the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian International Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko mentioned Ukraine was following with curiosity Lula’s efforts to discover a answer to the warfare.

However he rejected the view Lula expressed on the weekend that nations arming Kyiv had been prolonging the warfare.

The European Union has additionally rejected Lula’s suggestion that each Ukraine and Russia are guilty for the warfare.

EU overseas affairs spokesman Peter Stano mentioned all help was aimed toward Ukraine’s “official defence”.

Lula has mentioned Russia ought to return territory it invaded final yr however has recommended Ukraine may sacrifice Crimea, which was occupied by Russian forces in 2014 – a suggestion rejected outright by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy has urged world leaders to undertake his 10-point peace plan which, in addition to calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops and a cessation of hostilities, proposes restoring Ukraine’s authentic borders with Russia.

Australian Related Press