The White House has strongly criticized comments made by Brazilian President Luiz Inázio Lula da Silva, in which he accused the United States of “encouraging” the war in Ukraine.
Lula said, following a visit to China this weekend, that the United States needs to start talking about bringing peace to Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, also met Lula during his visit to Brazil and thanked him for his country’s efforts.
Meanwhile, John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, criticized Lula for “promoting Russian and Chinese propaganda.”
Lula, who sees himself as a mediator of peace talks to end the conflict, said this weekend that “the United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace.”
The Brazilian president’s comments came in the wake of his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, even though Beijing had proposed a peace plan in February that did not explicitly call for Russia to leave Ukraine.
Lavrov, who visited Brasilia on Monday, said Moscow was grateful to its Brazilian friends for their “clear understanding” of the situation.
“We are grateful for their willingness to contribute to finding ways to resolve the matter,” he added.
Kirby described Lula’s comments as “totally misleading” and far from the point of saying that “the United States and Europe are not interested in making peace, or in sharing responsibility for the war.”
Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said in response to Kirby’s remarks: “I don’t know how he came to this conclusion and why? But I don’t agree at all.”
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, and the International Criminal Court has since issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Brazil has not joined Western countries calling for sanctions against Russia, and has rejected requests to supply Ukraine with munitions.
Although Brazil calls for peace talks, Ukraine and its allies describe any immediate cease-fire as allowing Russia to keep territory it illegally acquired by force.
