2023-04-19 03:40:00
After receiving strong criticism from the United States and the European Union for his appreciations of the role of NATO in the war, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvareiterated this Tuesday, April 18, his country’s condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement made together with his Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis, Lula affirmed that the Brazilian government “condemns the territorial violation” of Ukraine by Russia.
In turn, the Brazilian president reiterated his call for the end of the conflict to be negotiated.
“At the same time that my Government condemns the territorial violation of Ukrainewe defend a negotiated political solution,” he said.
Lula also insisted that the creation of a group of countries be set in motion “urgently” to help Russia and Ukraine sit at the table to negotiate peace.
During Monday, spokespersons for USA and the European Union criticized Lula for having said that NATO members are helping to prolong the war.
John Kirby, one of the White House spokesmen, who accused Lula of being “parroting” Russian and Chinese propaganda about the war in Ukraine without having stopped to study “the facts”.
“The way in which Brazil has addressed this issue, both substantively and rhetorically, by suggesting that the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace or that they share responsibility for war is deeply problematic,” he said. Kirby.
For his part, Lula’s advisor for international affairs, Celso Amorimdescribed today as “absurd” the statements of the White House spokesman.
In an interview on the television channel GlobonewsAmorim stressed that Brazil has historically maintained a position of “non-alignment” with the powerswhich, as he clarified, not to be confused with neutrality.
In addition, Lula was criticized by the Ukrainian government, since the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of that country, Oleg Nikolenko, warned that the president of Brazil “puts victim and aggressor on the same level”while attacking countries that help Ukraine defend itself against “murderous aggression.”
Nikolenko called on the Brazilian president to “understand the real causes and the essence” of the war in Ukraine, which began with the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Last week, during his trip to China and the United Arab Emirates, Lula stated that The US should stop “fomenting” war and “start talking about peace”as well as the European Union, and insisted on pointing them out for “contributing” to its continuity by sending weapons to the Government of Ukraine.
Brazil condemned the invasion of Ukraine at the UN, but also sided with Russia’s positions by voting in favor of an investigation into the attack on the Nordstream gas pipelinewhich happened last September.
Likewise, weeks ago, Lula suggested that for a peaceful solution, Russia should renounce keeping occupied territory during the invasion that began in March 2022, although he observed with an opposite stick the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, which he considered that Kiev should give up.
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The visit of the Russian foreign minister to Brasilia
Brazil rejected US criticism that the president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva repeats Russian and Chinese propaganda about the war in Ukraine, after receiving the Russian foreign minister in Brasilia, Sergei Lavrov.
The visit of the head of diplomacy of Vladimir Putin It comes a day after Lula returned from a three-day tour of Beijing and Abu Dhabi, in which he proposed joint mediation with China and the United Arab Emirates to end the conflict and accused the United States of inciting hostilities.
The White House considered this Monday “deeply problematic” the Brazilian leader’s message on the war, noting that “Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda” and making “erroneous” comments.
“In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without looking at the facts at all”National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington, without mentioning Lula.
“The most recent comments from Brazil that Ukraine should consider the formal cession of Crimea as a peace concession are simply wrongespecially for a country like Brazil that has voted to uphold the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity” at the United Nations, Kirby added.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira rejected these criticisms and defended the relationship with Russia.
“I don’t know how or why [el portavoz del Consejo de Seguridad Nacional de la Casa Blanca] came to that conclusion. But I don’t agree in any way,” Vieira told reporters after the meeting between Lula and Lavrov in the official residence of the Alvorada in Brasilia.
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Vieira initially said he was not aware of the statements, but defended the ties between Russia and Brazil, which “celebrate 195 years of diplomatic relations this year”.
“They are two countries that have a history in common,” said the minister.
For their part, G7 foreign ministers warned on Tuesday that any country that aids Russia’s military campaign will face “severe costs.”
Gathered in Japan, the diplomatic heads of the world’s major economies promised Crack down on anyone who helps Russia acquire weapons and evade sanctions.
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Brazil “wants to promote peace”
Lavrov, who began a tour of Latin America in Brazil, gave Lula an invitation from Putin to the next economic forum in St. Petersburg in June, reported Vieira.
The exchange of statements and Lavrov’s visit occur at a time when Brazil promotes international mediation for the war in Ukraine, presenting itself as a neutral intermediary.
Earlier, at a press conference with Vieira, Lavrov “thanked” Brazil’s efforts to mediate the conflict.
“We are grateful to the Brazilian side (…) for their desire to contribute to find ways to resolve this situation,” he said, according to the official translation into Portuguese.
On his first visit to Brazil since 2019, the Russian diplomat reiterated that Moscow wants the conflict to be “solved as quickly as possible”. But “we need to solve it in a lasting way and not immediately,” she added.
Lavrov said that Brazil and Russia have “similar” approaches to “issues currently taking place in the world.”
both chancellors condemned the sanctions of Western powers against Moscow by the war and defended a reform of the Security Council of the UN.
Asked how similar Brazil’s vision of the conflict is to Russia’s, Vieira stated that Brazil seeks to “promote peace.”
“(Lavrov’s) conversation both with me and with the president did not go into war issues, but peace issues. Brazil wants to promote peace and is ready to join a group of countries that are willing to talk about peace,” Scallop stated.
“He (Lavrov) offered himself and I offered myself on behalf of Brazil to promote this dialogue,” he added.
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In Lula’s opinion, the United States “encourages” the conflict
Brazil has refused to supply weapons to Ukraine.
Lula affirmed over the weekend during his visit to China and the United Arab Emirates that “The United States must stop encouraging war” and that the North American country and Europe “begin to talk about peace.”
And he reiterated that Ukraine shares blame for the war with Russia, something kyiv vehemently rejects.
“Obviously we want the war to end,” insisted spokesman Kirby. “That could happen right now, today, if Mr. Putin stopped attacking Ukraine and withdrew his troops.”.
Lavrov said this month that Russia wants peace talks to focus on creating a “new world order” as MOscú rejects “a unipolar world directed by a hegemony”referring to the United States.
Brazil and Russia are part of the BRICS group of emerging countries, along with India, China and South Africa.
CA/ED
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