Russia's Lavrov meets Lula da Silva; US accuses Brazil of 'parroting' propaganda of Moscow on Ukraine

Brasília: Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday, reported AFP. Lula recently returned from a trip to China and the United Arab Emirates, during which he raised eyebrows in the West by accusing US of “encouraging the war” in Ukraine.

He also stated that the US and Europe “need to start talking about peace,” and that Kyiv bears responsibility for the war.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hailed Lula on Monday for his offer to facilitate peace negotiations to end the 14-month war, reported AFP.

But the visit, and Lula’s recent remarks, sparked criticism from the White House, which has led support for Ukraine.

According to AFP, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, “In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts.”

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, who had earlier spoken with Lavrov, responded afterwards, stating, “I don’t know how or why he reached that conclusion, but I do not agree at all.”

Brazil has declined to join Western nations in sanctioning Russia for its incursion and has refused to supply munitions to Ukraine.

Before the trip, Lula had proposed creating a group of countries to mediate in the war, and said he would discuss this in Beijing.

After meeting with his Brazilian counterpart on Monday, Lavrov said: “We are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the genesis of the situation (in Ukraine). We are grateful for their desire to contribute to finding ways of settling this situation.”

“We are interested in resolving the conflict as soon as possible,” Lavrov said.

But he added that any solution would have to be based on “multipolarity,” accusing the West of “trying to dominate the international arena.”

Lavrov’s trip to Brazil comes after Lula’s top foreign policy adviser, Celso Amorim, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in March to discuss opening peace talks.

Brazil is Lavrov’s first destination on a weeklong Latin American visit that will include include Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, all of whom have unfavourable relations with the US.

According to Lavrov and Vieira, their discussions also covered energy and trade.

About a quarter of Brazil’s fertiliser imports come from Russia, and the two nations had a record $9.8 billion in bilateral commerce last year, according to AFP.

With inputs from agencies

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