President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Donald Trump “is on the right track” in discussing peace in Ukraine, in a rare compliment to the American leader.
“As Trump makes the decision to discuss peace between Russia and Ukraine, that (former President Joe) Biden should have taken, I am forced to say that Trump is on the right track,” said the Brazilian president.
Lula recalled that in Brazil he has been defending the idea of a negotiated way out between Moscow and Kiev since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
“We made a striking criticism of Russia’s territorial occupation for Ukraine. And we made ourselves available to seek peace between Russia and Ukraine. At that moment, we said it was not possible to talk to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky. It was necessary to put them both on a table,” he said.
Lula said he will have a telephone conversation with Zelensky next week and will then understand if the Ukrainian really wants peace.
The Brazilian president complained about Europe, stating that leaders on the continent have always been against negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“Now that Trump has started talking to Putin, Europe does not want to be left out and wants to bring Zelensky. And I think it has to enter. To have peace, it has to put Putin and Zelensky on a table and put to talk and stop shooting and start planting and discuss peace,” he said.
Lula’s statements were made in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, at the end of his one week trip through Asia.
State visits to Japan and Vietnam were dominated by commercial and strategic discussions with leaders from both countries.
Lula defended multilateralism and free trade in various discourses, in an important movement on the eve of President Trump’s announcement of new tariffs that will be applied against several countries – among them Brazil.
The Brazilian leader stated that if the fares actually applied, the Brazilian government would appeal against them in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and could also retaliate the United States.
In Hanoi, the CNN Brazil He questioned the president about alternative paths, such as his possibility to call Trump to try to open direct negotiations and avoid the impact of tariffs on the Brazilian economy.
Lula said he could do that.
“When I feel the need to talk to President Trump, I won’t have any trouble calling him. By the time he thinks he’s interested in talking to me, I hope he has no problem calling me. It’s not because we have ideological divergence that two presidents can’t talk,” he said.
This content was originally published in Lula says Trump is “on the right track” when discussing peace in Ukraine on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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