Brasilia, (EFE).- The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, proposed this Monday in his meeting with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the creation of a group of countries that could mediate a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
“I told the chancellor that just as the G20 was created to overcome the 2008 economic crisis, we want to create a group of countries that can discuss ending a conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Nobody is interested in this conflict”, affirmed the Brazilian progressive leader.
The Brazilian head of state said he recognized the efforts made by Germany and other countries to avoid war but argued that the situation had reached a point where even the two rivals are concerned that they do not see the possibility of a peace agreement.
“What we need is to create a group of countries strong enough to be respected at the table and sit down to negotiate with the two (rivals) because nobody knows when this war is going to stop,” he said.
Lula said that he has already discussed this proposal with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and that he will raise it with the American, Joe Biden, and suggested Brazil, China and India as possible mediators.
He stressed Brazil’s position of neutrality in the conflict and rejected the possibility of sending Leopard 1 tank ammunition to Ukraine, as European countries, including Germany, have requested.
“Brazil has no interest in passing the ammunition to be used in the dispute between Ukraine and Russia. Brazil is a country of peace, Brazil does not want to have any participation, even if it is indirect”, she said.
Despite his diplomatic tone, he claimed that Russia “made a mistake by invading another country”, although he suggested that part of the responsibility for the war rests with Ukraine, claiming that “when one does not want to, two do not fight”.
In the joint statement, Scholz refrained from commenting on Lula’s proposal and insisted that the conflict was caused by a “flagrant violation of international law and international order.”
«As democracies we have to unite to avoid the return of the law of the strongest. I am glad that Brazil has taken a very clear position on the conflict at the UN,” the foreign minister said about Brazil’s condemnation of the Russian invasion.
Scholz arrived in Brasilia that same Monday, the last stop on a tour of South America that previously took him to Argentina and Chile.
