Brazilian Lula condemns the invasion of Ukraine and promotes the peace initiative

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday denounced Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and once more known as for mediation to finish the battle, a peace initiative criticized by the Ukrainian authorities.

Lula, talking at a lunch with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, mentioned a gaggle of impartial international locations ought to cooperate to assist dealer peace between Russia and Ukraine.

His feedback got here after he blew up a storm among the many Western allies by saying over the weekend that they had been prolonging the preventing by supplying arms to Ukraine.

A White Home spokesman accused Lula of “repeating Russian and Chinese language propaganda with out wanting on the info.” And on Tuesday, the White Home mentioned Lula’s “tone was not impartial.”

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

The White Home didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters query concerning the alleged contacts, however mentioned late Tuesday in an announcement that Biden’s nationwide safety adviser, Jake Sullivan, had spoken along with his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim about “quite a lot of bilateral and world communication points, together with It’s Russia’s battle in opposition to Ukraine.”

Earlier, Amorim joined the disagreement, calling US criticism “ridiculous” and insisting that Brazil didn’t share Russia’s place.

“Brazil defends Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” Amorim informed Globo TV. However, he added, “So long as there aren’t any talks, the right peace for Ukrainians and Russians won’t occur. There have to be compromises.”

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

Lula has introduced himself as a peace dealer to finish the battle, which started when Russia invaded the neighboring nation in February 2022. His proposal, constructing on Brazil’s custom of non-intervention and neutrality, requires a gaggle of nations not concerned within the battle to incorporate each Russia and Ukraine in talks.

Ukraine criticized Lula’s proposal for treating the “sufferer and the aggressor” in the identical method, and on Tuesday invited the Brazilian president to the war-torn nation to see for himself the implications of the Russian invasion.

Ukrainian Overseas Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko mentioned Ukraine was following with curiosity Lula’s efforts to discover a answer to the battle. However he rejected the view he expressed, had it not been for the weekend, that international locations that arm Kiev are prolonging the battle.

The EU additionally rejected Lula’s suggestion that Ukraine and Russia take duty for the battle. Spokesperson for Overseas Affairs of the European Union Peter Stano mentioned all assist was aimed toward Ukraine’s “reliable protection”.

Lula mentioned Russia ought to return the lands it occupied final 12 months, however hinted that Ukraine may sacrifice Crimea, which Russian forces occupied in 2014, a proposal rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky urged world leaders to undertake his 10-point peace plan which, together with a name for the withdrawal of Russian forces and a cessation of hostilities, proposes restoring Ukraine’s authentic border with Russia.

(Reporting by Anthony Bodel) Enhancing by Brad Haynes and Jonathan Otis

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