Facing criticism for recent remarks on Russia and Ukraine, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Saturday that he is simply calling for peace and restraint.
Lula was greeted by protesters during a state visit to Portugal this weekend, as he attempts to de-escalate comments that seemed to suggest both nations were at fault for the ongoing war, prompted by Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
“I never equated Russia and Ukraine. I know what an invasion is and what territorial integrity is. But now the war has already started and someone needs to talk about peace,” the Brazilian president said in a tweet Saturday.
Lula’s most recent comments: The Brazilian president added fuel to the fire of older remarks on the invasion when he criticized the US last week for “encouraging” the war in Ukraine.
“The United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace; the European Union needs to start talking about peace so that we can convince Putin and Zelensky that peace is in the interest of everyone and that war is only interesting, for now, to the two of them,” Lula said to journalists last weekend.
Lula has since attempted to avert his previous comments by denouncing the “violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” while doubling down on his call for peace between both nations.
“While my government condemns the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, we advocate a negotiated political solution to the conflict,” Lula said in a speech following his meeting with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s response: The Brazilian president’s approach “puts the victim and the aggressor on the same scale,” Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign minister, said Tuesday.
“Countries that help Ukraine defend itself against deadly aggression, are accused of encouraging war, does not correspond to the real state of affairs,” the spokesperson wrote on Facebook.
Ukraine to welcome Brazilian presidential official: Ukraine is also set to host Brazil’s chief presidential adviser as both nations continue to have diplomatic talks, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Melnyk tweeted Saturday.
Marcio Macedo, minister of the general secretariat of the Republic of Brazil, confirmed on Twitter that the adviser, Celso Amorim, is going to Ukraine.
“At the request of President Lula, Brazil is committed to contributing to the promotion of dialogue and peace, and the end of this conflict,” Macedo said in another tweet.
CNN’s Mariya Knight contributed to this post.
