Top Lula Aide Meets Zelenskiy as Brazil Continues Peace Efforts

Simone Iglesias
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- A top foreign affairs adviser to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Wednesday, as the Brazilian president continues to push for an end to Russia’s war.

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The trip by Celso Amorim, a former foreign minister and longtime Lula aide, is a strategic effort to patch up relations with Ukraine and the west, which have criticized Lula’s repeated suggestions that Zelenskiy bears some responsibility for Russia’s invasion of his country and were angered by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Brasilia last month.

Speaking after the meeting, Amorim described the talks as positive, served to build confidence and helped to lay out Brazil’s goals for reaching peace, Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported

Despite mounting international criticism of his position, Lula has maintained his desire to play a role in peace talks as the conflict drags on. Ukraine’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, Andriy Melnyk, said Wednesday that Zelenskiy’s government wants Brazil to help put an end to Russia’s attacks.

“Brazil can play an important role to stop Russian aggression and reach a lasting and just peace,” Melnyk said on Twitter after meeting with Amorim, adding that the two countries were seeking to “reinvigorate” their partnership.

Read more: Ukraine Latest: Kyiv Struck Again as Putin Pledges Victory

Russia renewed its aerial assault on the Ukrainian capital this week, and President Vladimir Putin vowed to win the war during a military parade in Moscow. But Lula said Tuesday that he hoped Amorim would return from Kyiv with signals that peace talks are possible.

“I hope that he brings me, not the solution, but signs of solutions so we can start talking about peace,” he told reporters during an appearance with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose bilateral meeting with Lula in Brasilia included discussions about the war. “We already know what Putin wants and now we will know what Zelenskiy wants. Then we will have the instruments to talk to other countries and increase the possibility of stopping this war.”

The Brazilian leader once again sought to clarify his position on the war, reiterating that Brazil has condemned Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territories and that he is solely interested in a peaceful resolution. Each country involved in the conflict, he said, “has its reasons” for taking the actions it has pursued so far.

“Ukraine effectively cannot accept the occupation of its territory, it has to resist,” Lula said. “The EU has its reason for making the decisions it has made, and Brazil and other countries have their reasons for trying to find a middle ground.”

Since taking office in January, Lula has argued that a coalition of neutral nations — most notably China, Brazil and Turkey — could potentially mediate peace negotiations.

But his latest suggestion during an April trip to China that the US and EU are also “encouraging” the war generated backlash from European capitals and Washington. A White House spokesman accused him of “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda” in response.

Read more: Brazil’s Foreign Minister Criticizes Russia Sanctions (1)

Lula and Zelenskiy spoke by video about the war in March, and Ukraine’s foreign minister invited the Brazilian leader to Kyiv after Lavrov’s visit to Brasilia. Amorim, who visited Moscow and met with Putin advisers last month, also discussed the war with Joe Biden’s top foreign affairs adviser in an effort to shore up relations with the US.

--With assistance from Bruna Lessa.

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