Lula says he was ‘upset’ for not having met Zelensky – Internacional

2023-05-22 04:27:00

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said, this Monday morning (Sunday night, 21, in Brazil), in Hiroshima, that he was “upset” for not having met his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelensky, during the summit of the G7.

Lula also said that both the Ukrainian and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, do not seem to be interested in negotiating peace.

Zelensky, who made a surprise visit to the summit of the seven most industrialized countries on the planet, in Hiroshima, Japan, in search of diplomatic support and more military aid, attempted a bilateral meeting with Lula.

The Brazilian was the target of criticism, according to which he would have been soft with Russia about the invasion of the neighboring country.

Both Lula and Zelensky attributed scheduling conflicts to the fact that they had not met, which the Ukrainian president jokingly said could have “disappointed” his Brazilian colleague.

“I wasn’t disappointed. I was upset because I would like to meet with him and discuss the matter,” Lula said during a press conference in Japan, before his return trip to Brazil.

But “Zelensky of legal age. He knows what he’s doing,” he added.

Lula explained that his team had scheduled a meeting with Zelensky this Sunday afternoon, but the Ukrainian would have been late and his schedule was full after that.

Zelensky got strong support from G7 leaders during the summit, including American support for access to long-claimed F-16 fighters.

He also met leaders from non-G7 countries who were invited to the event, and obtained a commitment from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do “all we can” to resolve the conflict.

“I understand your pain,” Modi told Zelensky.

The Ukrainian president did not have the same demonstration of support as Brazil.

Lula said he saw no point in meeting with Zelensky now and claimed that neither he nor Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to want peace.

“For the time being, they don’t want to talk. Both are convinced they are going to win the war,” he added.

Lula has promoted peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and proposed that Brazil act as a mediator, along with other “neutral” countries, such as China and Indonesia.

But, last month, the Brazilian was criticized for accusing the United States of “encouraging” the war.

After the White House accused him of “reproducing Russian and Chinese propaganda”, Lula lowered his tone and stated that Brazil condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

But he returned to criticize this Monday.

According to him, the American president, Joe Biden, is sending the message that “Putin has to surrender and pay for everything he has screwed up”.

“This speech does not help,” said Lula.