The White House has harshly criticised Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for accusing the U.S. of “encouraging” the conflict in Ukraine.
After a weekend visit to China, Lula stated that the United States must begin discussing peace in Ukraine.
During his visit to Brazil, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov conferred with Lula and expressed gratitude for Brazil’s efforts.
John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, accused Lula of “repeating Russian and Chinese propaganda.”
Lula, who has presented himself as a mediator for peace talks to end the conflict, stated over the weekend that “the United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace”.
His remarks followed a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In February, China released a peace plan that does not explicitly demand that Russia abandon Ukraine.
In February of last year, Russia conducted an all-out invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, president of Russia.
Mr. Lavrov, who was in Brasilia on Monday, stated that Moscow was “grateful to our Brazilian friends for their clear comprehension of the situation’s origins.”
“We appreciate their willingness to help us find solutions to this problem,” he said.
Mr. Kirby stated that Lula’s remarks were “simply misguided” and “missed the mark” by “suggesting that the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace, or that we share responsibility for the war”.
In response, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira stated of Mr. Kirby, “I don’t know how or why he arrived at that conclusion, but I completely disagree.”
Brazil has not joined the West in imposing sanctions on Russia, and it has declined requests to provide ammunition to Ukraine.
While Brazil calls for peace talks, Ukraine and its allies argue that an immediate ceasefire would enable Russia to retain illegally acquired territory through force.
