The Brazilian president began a visit to Portugal on Saturday. But the two Portuguese-speaking countries have confirmed their differences over the war in Ukraine.
After the isolation of the Bolsonaro years, Brazilian President Lula da Silva began a visit to Portugal on Saturday to reconnect with the former colonial power, but the two Portuguese-speaking countries confirmed their differences over the war in Ukraine.
Despite the controversy caused by his recent criticism to Westerners, the 77-year-old Brazilian leader reaffirmed in Lisbon his refusal to “participate” in the conflict and his desire to contribute to a “negotiated solution” between Kiev and Moscow.
Putting Brazil back at the center of global geopolitics
“At the same time as my government condemns the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, we defend a negotiated political solution for the conflict”, he declared to the press after a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
“We urgently need a group of countries that sit down at the table with both Ukraine and Russia,” he said.
“President Lula believes that the path to a just and lasting peace presupposes priority for this path of negotiation. The Portuguese position is different: it intends that a possible path to peace presupposes the right for Ukraine to to be able to react to the invasion”, reacted Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Lula, who has already governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010, wants to put his country back at the center of global geopolitics and has been trying to play the tightrope walker since the beginning of his mandate.
Lula accused of “echoing Russian and Chinese propaganda”
He traveled to Washington in February for a meeting at the White House with his American counterpart Joe Biden, and recently visited China, Brazil’s largest trading partner.
But the former steelworker has sparked heated controversy when he told Beijing that the United States must stop “encouraging war” in Ukraine and that the European Union must “start talking about peace”.
Words harshly criticized by Washington, who accused him of “echoing Russian and Chinese propaganda”.
Brazil thanked by Russia
The Brazilian leader also reaffirmed that the responsibilities for the war triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 were shared between the two countries.
Received by Lula in Brasilia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “thanked” Brazil for its “contribution” in the search for a solution to the conflict, and for “its excellent understanding of the genesis of this situation”.
Invited to Kiev so that he “understands the real causes and the essence” of the war, the Brazilian head of state announced from Lisbon that he will send his main foreign policy adviser, Celso Amorim, there for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
