kyiv. Ukraine invited Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to visit the war-torn country and see for himself the consequences of the Russian invasion, while criticizing his efforts to mediate peace talks.
The invitation came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Lula in Brasilia and discussed views shared by Brazil and Russia on the conflict, which has been going on for more than a year.
The spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Nikolenko, confirmed on social networks the invitation to Lula to visit Kiev “to understand the real causes of Russian aggression and its consequences for world security.”
Nikolenko said that Ukraine was following Lula’s efforts to find a solution to the war with interest, but did not accept that “the victim and the aggressor” receive the same treatment.
He also rejected that “countries that help Ukraine defend itself against deadly aggression are accused of fomenting war,” in reference to Lula’s comments over the weekend, when he accused the United States and the European Union of prolonging the conflict by supplying weapons to the Ukrainians.
Lula’s comments caused a storm among the Western allies.
A White House spokesman accused Lula of “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without looking at the facts.”
In this regard, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira rejected these criticisms: “I don’t know how or why (the spokesman for the White House National Security Council) came to that conclusion. But I do not agree in any way,” he said. Vieira to journalists after the meeting between Lula and Lavrov at the official residence of Alvorada in Brasilia.
nuances
Lula said yesterday, April 18, that his government condemns the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and once again defended efforts to end the conflict. Speaking after lunch with the President of Romania, Klaus Werner Iohannis, Lula no longer claimed that the two countries are responsible for the war.
