Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky reminded his Brazilian counterpart Lula da Silva on Tuesday that Ukrainians are victims of the Russian invasion and that “the war is not happening in Brazil,” withdrawing territorial concessions and calling for respect for independent states asks.
“The war is concretely taking place in Ukraine, the victims are concretely Ukrainians. They are not Brazilians, or other Europeans, or Americans. Concretely, it is tens of thousands of people, hundreds of thousands, who have died or been injured, it is our homes that were attacked or bombed, not the homes of Brazil or other countries,” Zelensky said in an extract from an interview with RTP, which will be broadcast in full tonight. is broadcast.
When asked to comment on Lula da Silva’s statements at the BRICS summit last week that “Brazil is not considering unilateral formulas for peace,” the Ukrainian leader stated that “to say something, it is necessary to understand who who is the victim and who is the aggressor”, adding: “It is not a one-sided form, it is a formula of the country that suffers from all this, that suffers from the war and in the territory where the war develops. Point”.
Despite the condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24 last year, In April, Brazil’s president had already admitted the surrender of Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014, as a way out of the conflict, and at the BRICS summit he again called for a negotiated peace and the abandonment of a ” outdated Cold War’. War mentality” “.
In response, Zelensky stated that Ukraine is a democratic country and intends to involve “as many countries as possible” in the Kiev peace formula, which demands the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and rejects all territorial concessions. However, he said he is open to proposals.
“But if these proposals are in any way based on ceding part of our territory, then firstly that is not consistent with our thoughts, and secondly it is certainly not compatible with our territorial integrity and sovereignty.” said the Ukrainian leader, emphasizing that “people should respect the territories of independent states”.
In contrast to the criticism of Lula da Silva, Zelensky, in an interview with RTP, praised the visit to Kiev last week by his Portuguese colleague Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who attended a ceremony on the day of the 32nd anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. , marked August 24, made a brief intervention in Ukrainian.
The gesture did not surprise the Ukrainian president, who said he appreciated it despite “an accent” but indicated “respect for Ukraine”.
Zelensky considered Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa “a person of great charisma”, who feels the voice of his people and also of the Ukrainian people, and that the two leaders are “in harmony, as the musicians say” and in this way everything will be reaches.
Source: DN
