Brazil will not send ammunition to Ukraine to help in its war against the Russian invasion, said this Monday (30) President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who proposed instead creating a peace group to end the conflict, receive the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz.
“Brazil has no interest in passing ammunition to be used between Ukraine and Russia,” declared the President of the Republic at a joint press conference at the Planalto Palace, in Brasília.
Lula said he was concerned about the European conflict that has lasted almost a year, but he stressed that the country does not want any participation, at a time when several Western nations have decided to send modern tanks in support of Kiev. “Brazil is a country of peace,” he said.
“My suggestion is to create a group of countries that try to sit down at the table with Ukraine and Russia to find a peaceful solution. And Brazil will make an effort. I’ve already spoken with [French President Emannuel] Macron, with [Germany Chancellor Olaf] Scholz, I’m going to speak with President [Joe] Biden. Then we’ll look for other presidents to talk about the idea of creating this group. If I go to China in March, this is one of the subjects I want to discuss with President Xi Jinping. It’s time for China to get its hands dirty and try to help find peace between Russia and Ukraine,” he said.
The president indicated that, in addition to Scholz, he had spoken with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, about this proposal, which he called “the club of people who will want to build peace on the planet”.
He will also discuss the topic with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the leader of China, Xi Jinping, with whom he has official visits scheduled for February and March, respectively.
In turn, Scholz highlighted that the conflict “is not just a European issue”, as it is a “flagrant violation of international rights and international order”.
Lula caused a stir last year when he claimed that Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky was “as responsible as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin” in this war.
Now, he believes that Russia “made the classic mistake of invading another country’s territory”, but maintains the position that “when one doesn’t want to, two don’t fight”.
He also said that the causes of the conflict needed to be made clearer and compared the situation with the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 “due to a lie” about the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein’s possession.
*With AFP
