(Brazil) Brazilian President Lula declined an invitation to visit Saint Petersburg on Friday during a telephone interview with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, following his failure to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the G7 summit.
“I thanked [Poutine] of his invitation to St. Petersburg International Economic Forum” from June 14 to 17 “and I replied that I could not go to Russia at the moment”, tweeted Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“But I told him again that Brazil, like India, Indonesia and China, was ready to engage in dialogue with the two parties to the conflict with a view to achieving peace,” he added.
Unlike several Western powers, Brazil has never imposed economic sanctions on Russia or agreed to supply ammunition to Kiev. Brasilia is trying to position itself as a mediator.
Lula has sparked controversy by repeatedly claiming responsibility for the conflict is shared, although he recently condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At the end of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the Brazilian president said he was “pissed off” at not having discussed face-to-face with Mr. Zelensky.
However, he added that he did not see the point in meeting his Ukrainian counterpart immediately, believing that neither he nor Vladimir Putin wanted peace.
