Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva believes that Russia and Ukraine need to be invited to negotiationsRIO DE JANEIRO, April 7.
/tass/. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized the actions of the United States and the EU in the situation with the conflict in Ukraine. In his opinion, Washington and Brussels should have immediately engaged in the search for peace, and not be drawn into military action.
"We believe that developed countries, especially the EU and the United States, should not have been ready to enter the war so soon without having given enough time for negotiations before. And it is very difficult to conduct peace negotiations," he said during a press breakfast on Thursday. He also stressed that Brasilia stands "for the territorial integrity of all states" and does not support Moscow conducting a special military operation.
In his opinion, to start peace negotiations, "it takes courage." "Someone from the outside should help. And I am sure that both Ukraine and Russia are waiting for someone from the outside to invite them to negotiations," he said.
Earlier, Lula da Silva said that Russia is the guarantor of long-term peace in the world. He has already taken the initiative to develop a new international format to create the possibility of a dialogue between Moscow and Kiev, stressing that he is ready, if necessary, to mediate direct negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky.
The Brazilian President noted that China can play an important role in the negotiation process on the situation in Ukraine.
"Why do I want to discuss [the situation in Ukraine] with Xi Jinping? Because I believe that China's economic, military, political importance and China's relations with Russia, along with China's disagreements with the United States, create an extraordinary potential for China to act as a negotiator," said the head of state, who is due to pay a visit to China next week.
Lula da Silva once again recalled his initiative to create a group of countries not directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine in order to find a peaceful solution to it. "I think China and Brazil have weight. I think Indonesia and India could take part," he added.
On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry published a document outlining its position on the political settlement of the crisis in Ukraine. It includes 12 points, including calls for a ceasefire, respect for the legitimate interests of all countries in the field of security, the settlement of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, the exchange of prisoners of war between Moscow and Kiev, as well as the refusal to impose unilateral sanctions without a corresponding decision of the UN Security Council. In the published document, China called dialogue and negotiations "the only way to resolve the crisis in Ukraine" and called on all parties to support Moscow and Kiev in "moving towards each other", as well as in resuming direct dialogue as soon as possible. It was stressed that the international community should create conditions and provide a platform for resuming negotiations.
