Borrell urges Lula da Silva to visit Ukraine to see Russian aggression with his own eyes

“Recently, there have been some ideas about peace from China and Brazil.”

“For there to be credible peace efforts, it is necessary to talk to Kyiv and go there, see the aggression through their eyes, through the eyes of those who are being bombed,” Josep Borrell told a press conference at the end of a meeting of European Union (EU) foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

During a visit to Beijing this month, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized the stance of the United States and the EU regarding the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine.

Lula da Silva advocated that Washington and the 27 were fueling the conflict, and later rejected choosing sides because he believed he was part of a third way (not siding with Ukraine or the Kremlin) that was only interested in peace.

“We cannot accept this benevolent approach. We cannot level the aggressor and the aggressed,” said the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs.

Josep Borrell added that “it’s not that Russia and Ukraine don’t want to stop,” it’s Moscow that “wants to continue the invasion.”

“I want to remind you of the horrible situation in the country for all the people who have now come to ask for peace.”

“I want peace too. But these requests, where were they when Russia was concentrating troops on the border [with Ukraine]? We all want peace and, above all, Ukrainians,” he added.

“Until then,” he warned, the EU will “continue to support the defense of Ukraine.”

With information from Lusa