BRASILIA: Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Saturday that the United States (US) should stop “encouraging war” in Ukraine, as he completed a state visit to China, where he has strengthened economic relations with his country’s main trading partner.
He used his visit to push the message that “Brazil is back” as a major player on the world stage — and to warn that the South American nation’s deepening ties with China were non-negotiable.
Lula left on Saturday for United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a one-day official trip and would meet his counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
During the visit to China, the left-wing president targeted the power of the US dollar and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and met Chinese tech giant Huawei’s representatives, which has been effectively kicked out of the US market.
Lula told journalists that the US should stop encouraging war and begin talking about peace. The European Union (EU) also needs to do this.
He said that, in that way, the world community would be able to “convince” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that peace was in the interest of the entire world.
Lula, who returned to power in January this year after serving 2 terms between 2003 and 2010, met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.
Both called on developed nations to keep their promise to provide one hundred billion dollars a year to the poorest nations to fight against the effects of climate change.
Brazil’s difficult task
Lula is carrying out a difficult balancing act as he also tries closer relations with Washington. His trip, which included a financial agenda in Shanghai and a more political one in the capital Beijing, came after a meeting with President Joe Biden in February.
Unlike Western countries, neither China nor Brazil has imposed sanctions against Russia over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Both countries seek to position themselves as mediators to achieve the target of peace in the conflict, which is still raging in the eastern parts of Ukraine.
Before the visit, Lula had proposed creating a group of nations to mediate in the conflict and said he would discuss this issue in Beijing.
Lula did not provide details about the progress of this plan after meeting with Xi.
He said it was important to have the patience to talk with Zelensky and Putin.
But above all, it was important to convince the nations supplying weapons and encouraging the war to stop.
