Facing an avalanche of criticism, Brazil will press ahead with peace proposals in Ukraine

The Brazilian reception to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and a series of comments by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the war in Ukraine after his trip to China have led Brazil to be accused of buying a side in the conflict, with the US government saying the country is repeating Russian and Chinese propaganda.

In the Brazilian government, however, the criticisms return. While some of Lula’s speeches are acknowledged to have “caused noise,” the opinion is that there is pressure for Brasilia to fully align with the positions of North America and the European Union, a diplomatic source told Reuters.

In recent weeks, Lula said that perhaps Crimea, a region of Ukraine occupied by Russia since 2014, could continue under the government of Vladimir Putin. During a trip to China, he said the two countries are interested in war and, last Friday, said the US and EU should stop supplying weapons and “encourage” the conflict.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s reception this Monday, in which he celebrated that Brazil has “understood” Russia’s reasons for starting the war, crowned the malaise.

The answer has come. Peter Stano, EU foreign affairs spokesman, said Russia “is solely responsible” for the war in Ukraine. A European ambassador told Reuters that the president’s statement that countries should stop sending weapons to Ukraine “raised the alarm”.

“It’s a war of aggression and defense. If they (the Ukrainians) didn’t have weapons, they would lose the right to self-defense,” the diplomat said.

The harshest reaction came from the United States. John Kirby, the White House security adviser, said Brazil was “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda” and that Lula’s comments were “just misleading”.

When asked about Kirby’s speech, Chancellor Mauro Vieira rejected the American’s speech. “I totally disagree. I don’t know how or why he came to that conclusion, but I totally disagree,” the chancellor said after leaving the meeting between Lavrov and Lula, at the Alvorada Palace.

Vieira stressed that he had not seen the speech: “I don’t know the reasons why he said that.”

The mention of China by the White House comes after Lula said that “no one” will prevent Brazil from approaching Beijing, in a context of tension between the powers.

The official Brazilian opinion is that there is a demand for “absolute alignment” by the United States, which will not happen.

“There are rumors, but it doesn’t change the Brazilian position, which has condemned the Russian invasion and continues to condemn it,” the source said. “It’s uncomfortable, because Brazil is at the center of the debate and is neither on one side nor the other. You have your own voice that doesn’t obey,” said the source.

While Lula has spoken out about the conflict several times — with reporters in Brazil, on his return from China and in the United Arab Emirates — and hasn’t hesitated to speak out on thorny issues, such as arms and Crimea, his advisers have been more restrained .

The chancellery and Planalto’s special adviser, Celso Amorim, who was in Moscow at the request of the president, reiterated the Brazilian position of condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, defended by the country at the UN, and said that the focus should be on exiting the conflict, without prior theses.

Until now, with this conduct, Brazil had obtained the support of the French Emmanuel Macron for the idea of ​​creating a group of countries to negotiate an end to the war, with the possible participation of China.

Be that as it may, according to the Brazilian view, the assessment is that noise is normal and can be resolved with diplomacy. And, despite the reaction, Brazil will continue to insist on the need for peace talks.

There is an admission, however, that the time for this is not now, that countries are not ready to sit down and talk about a peace deal. “We have to wait for spring, summer… and see what happens. But we will continue to insist, someone has to talk about peace,” said the source.

Source: Terra

Rose

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