Lula calls on West to stop arming Ukraine and pushes for peace talks
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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urges the US and the EU to stop funding the Ukraine war and calls on all parties to negotiate a peace deal.
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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks at a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil. 21 March 2023. (Reuters)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated that the US should stop “encouraging war” in Ukraine, while he was on a visit to China to discuss bilateral agreements.
The President, who was wrapping up his visit to China and preparing to head to the UAE said, "The United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace. The European Union needs to start talking about peace.”
Lula had previously proposed creating a special group of countries to facilitate peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, saying that he would discuss the proposition with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the visit.
When asked about the progress of the initiative Lula said, “it is important to have patience” regarding the issue.
However, Lula did stress the importance of convincing the "countries that are supplying weapons,” and encouraging the war to stop doing so.
Western armament of Ukraine
As of February 2023, the EU and US have announced more than $120 billion in aid to Ukraine including state-of-the-art weapons and armory.
UK support to Ukraine has also included depleted Ukrainian ammunition, which was previously used by NATO members in Iraq and has horrific effects on health and ecology.
China previously laid out a 12-point plan to achieve peace in Ukraine, which EU members viewed as biased towards Russia.
EU chief Ursula Von Der Leyen made the EU's position on China-mediated peace talks clear in late March when she said that any "viable" peace plan needed to be on Ukraine's terms and should not consolidate the accession of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Kherson and Zaporozhye to Russia.
She added, "We have to be frank on this point. How China continues to interact with Putin's war will be a determining factor for EU-China relations going forward."
Read more: Lula calls on global South to ditch USD trade in own currencies.
