Brazil’s Lula, on state visit to Portugal, again calls for peace talks in Ukraine

Speaking in Lisbon at the start of his first visit to Europe as president, Lula said his aim was to ‘build a way to bring both of them (Russia and Ukraine) to the table’

Last week Lula said the United States and European allies should stop supplying arms to Ukraine, arguing that they were prolonging the war

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during the Portugal-Brazil Summit at Belem Cultural Centre in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:47am, 23 Apr 2023Updated: 4:08am, 23 Apr 2023

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday he did not want to “please anyone” with his views about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after provoking criticism in the West for suggesting Kyiv shared the blame for the war.

Speaking in Lisbon at the start of his first visit to Europe since being elected president, Lula said his aim was to “build a way to bring both of them (Russia and Ukraine) to the table”.

“I want to find a third alternative (to solve the conflict), which is the construction of peace,” he told a news conference.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa at press conference in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday. Photo: Zuma Press Wire / dpa

Last week during an official visit to China, he said the United States and European allies should stop supplying arms to Ukraine, arguing that they were prolonging the war. “If you are not making peace, you are contributing to war,” Lula said.

The White House accused Lula of parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who accompanied Lula at the news conference, said their countries’ stances on the war were different.

Portugal is a founding member of the Western Nato defence alliance and has sent military equipment to Ukraine. Rebelo de Sousa said Ukraine had the right to defend itself and recover its territory.