During an interview with CNN on Friday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that Russia must be provided with "minimum conditions" in order for the conflict in Ukraine to be settled. 

"Russia is not a small country... We need to create a narrative that gives Russians the minimum conditions to end the war... Let's end the war and then discuss at the negotiating table what we want," Lula told Christiane Amanpour of CNN.

The Brazilian leader further expressed his wish of engaging with both parties in discussing a truce, including the US, China, India, Indonesia, and other countries as he considers that the world can develop only via a condition of peace. 

President @LulaOficial has been criticized by western allies over his position on Ukraine. He tells me that if a country is invaded, “of course it has the right to defend itself,” but he wants to “fix the error” Russia made. “I don’t want to join the war, I want to end the war.” pic.twitter.com/BqmFJvM4dY

— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) February 10, 2023

Despite the massive campaign of Western sanctions against Moscow, Brazil, and Russia have been seeking to maintain current commercial, economic, and investment links, with a specific emphasis on Russian fertilizer exports.

Last December, the trade turnover between Brazil and Russia was reported to have exceeded $8 billion.

Brazil is Russia's main trade partner in Latin America and continues to rely on Russian fertilizers for agricultural purposes.

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