2023-05-26 23:00:22
The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, reported this Friday (05.26.2023) that he spoke by telephone with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and that he rejected an invitation that the Moscow leader made him to attend the edition of the International Economic Forum to be held in Saint Petersburg in June. The dialogue comes just days following Lula’s frustrated meeting with the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski.
Through his social networks, Lula said that he declined the invitation due to scheduling problems, but took the opportunity to reiterate his willingness to talk regarding peace in his conflict with Ukraine. Specifically, Lula told Putin “Brazil’s willingness, together with India, Indonesia and China, to talk with both sides of the conflict (in Ukraine) in search of peace.”
Lula proposes Brazil as a mediator in an eventual negotiation to end the war, unleashed by the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory in February 2022. “I thanked (Putin) for an invitation to go to the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg and I replied that I did not I can go to Russia right now,” Lula tweeted regarding this event scheduled for June 14-17.
idea without echo
Lula, who has been accused of being soft on the Russian regime regarding its invasion, had a disagreement with Zelenski at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, when a bilateral meeting did not materialize due to alleged “scheduling problems.” Lula said he was “upset” that he had not met with his Ukrainian counterpart, but also stated that there was little point in meeting Zelensky at this time because neither the Ukrainian president nor Putin show any sign of wanting peace.
Since he took office on January 1, Lula has insisted that it is necessary to articulate a group of countries that can mediate a ceasefire and bring Russia and Ukraine to a negotiating table. The proposal has not been echoed among Western countries, which reject it because they consider that the Brazilian leader equates “the aggressor country with the attacked one.”
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