Brazil: after flirting with Russia, Lula articulates meeting with G7 powers

After an intense diplomatic rapprochement of the Brazilian government with Moscow last week, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva turned back and criticized the invasion of Ukraine.

The statement comes on the same day that the president is talking by telephone with Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida to agree on his participation in a meeting of the G7, the group of the seven largest economies in the world, scheduled for May.

Speaking about international politics on Thursday morning (6) at a breakfast meeting with journalists, Lula said that Russia “cannot keep” the invaded territory in Ukraine.

The position is contrary to the latest position of the Brazilian government, which had supported the peace agreement drawn up by China.

Beijing defends that a ceasefire be declared, and Russia should not leave the already conquered territories in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.

The pro-Moscow position had occurred last week, in parallel to a secret visit of former Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim to Russia.

On that occasion, a possible visit of Lula to Moscow was negotiated, the date of which has not been disclosed yet.

The G7 meeting should occur in Hiroshima, Japan, between May 19 and 21.

Lula and Kishida would have a phone conversation on Thursday night.

The G7 countries are critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and have articulated unprecedented packages of international sanctions against the Kremlin since the beginning of the war.

Brazilian foreign policy traditionally does not foresee automatic alignment with any power.

For this reason, Brazil is often classified as a pendulum country by international analysts.

With information from Gazeta do Povo

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