The White House sharply criticized Brazil on Monday after Lula da Silva said during a trip to China that the United States is encouraging war in Ukraine.
“In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without observing the facts,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
During his visit to Beijing on Saturday, where he met his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, Lula said that “the United States must stop encouraging war [na Ucrânia] and start talking about peace.” “It is necessary for the European Union to start talking about peace,” he stressed.
These statements echoed the position often used by Moscow and Beijing, who blame the West for the war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022, when Russian troops invaded the neighboring country in an attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government of President Volodymyr Zelensky and annex regions of this pro-Western country.
Brazil has not joined Western countries in adopting sanctions against Russia and has rejected requests to supply ammunition to Ukraine.
In Brazil this Monday, as he embarked on a tour of Latin America, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia “is grateful to the Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the origins of the situation [na Ucrânia]”.
Lula wants to make Brazil a non-aligned mediator in the conflict, but Kirby said Lula’s message about the war was “very problematic”.
Washington has “no objection to any country that wants to try to end the war,” he said. “Obviously we want the war to end,” Kirby said. “This can happen today, right now, if you [presidente russo, Vladimir] Putin will stop attacking Ukraine and withdraw his troops,” he added.
Brazil’s latest comments that Ukraine should formally consider ceding Crimea as a peace concession are simply misplaced, especially for a country like Brazil, which has voted to uphold the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. [nas Nações Unidas]”, he emphasized.
Source: DN
