KYIV: Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Tuesday criticised Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s recent calls for an end to war with Russia, accusing him of giving “equal weighting” to Ukraine and Russia.
During state visits to China and the Middle East, Lula has said the United States should “stop encouraging war and start talking about peace” in Ukraine.
He also claimed that Kyiv shares the blame for the conflict, which began when Russian forces poured into Ukraine in February 2022.
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Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook that Kyiv is watching Lula’s efforts to resolve the conflict “with interest”.
But Nikolenko said “an approach that gives equal weighting to the victim and the aggressor and accuses countries that help Ukraine defend itself against deadly aggression of encouraging war, does not correspond to the real state of affairs”.
The foreign ministry spokesman invited Lula to visit Ukraine “to understand the real reasons and the essence of Russian aggression and the consequences for global security”.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Monday accused Lula of “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts”, calling his message “deeply problematic”.
Lula met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday as he visited Brasilia.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira rejected the White House criticism of Lula, saying: “I do not agree at all.”
Brazil has not joined Western nations in imposing sanctions on Russia over its invasion and has refused requests to supply ammunition to Ukraine.
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