The Center for Combating Disinformation, which is part of Ukraine’s National Defense and Security Council, has included former Brazilian President Lula da Silva on a list of personalities whom Ukrainian authorities accuse of promoting Russian propaganda.
According to the Brazilian press, which cites the document, the former Brazilian president and candidate for the presidential elections in October he is the only Brazilian on this list of 78 peoplethat kyiv considers to practice disinformation and fake news in the name of Russia.
“I keep seeing the president of Ukraine on TV like he’s partying, getting a standing ovation from all the parliaments, you know? This guy is as responsible as Putin. He is as responsible as Putin.. Because in a war there is no single culprit,” said former president Lula da Silva, in an interview in early May with the US magazine Time. This is one of the reasons why Lula was included in the Ukraine list.
Even so, in the same interview, Lula affirms that [o Presidente da Rússia, Vladimir] Putin should not have invaded Ukraine”, but “the fault lies not only with Putin, but with the United States and the European Union”. “What is the reason for the invasion of Ukraine? It’s NATO,” he declared.
The second justification for including the former Brazilian president on this list is, according to kyiv, Lula reportedly declared that Russia “must lead the new world order”.
According to the Brazilian press, Lula never made these statements. Quoted by CNN Brazil, Lula’s adviser affirms that this phrase was never pronounced by the former Brazilian president and defended that the first reason is out of context.
This Tuesday, the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, reacted to the inclusion of his opponent in the presidency: “Did you see Ukraine putting Lula on the list of disinformers about the war? it’s not because [sugerir] drink beer to resolve the conflict. It’s another problem,” Bolsonaro said in a provocation to Lula da Silva who, in April, at a rally, said that the war “would be resolved here in Brazil at a table drinking beer.”
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky and Brazilian Head of State Jair Bolsonaro had a phone conversation, the first since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
In this conversation, according to kyiv, Zelensky will have asked Bolsonaro for the country’s adherence to the sanctions imposed on Russia.
Since the beginning of the war, Bolsonaro has avoided condemning Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory and maintains a “neutral” and “balanced” position in relation to the conflict.
He has also criticized the economic sanctions adopted by the West against Russia, to which Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, has not adhered.
In fact, while the West tried to isolate Russia, Bolsonaro reinforced his cooperation with the Putin administration, which he visited in February, on the eve of the start of the war, to guarantee the supply of fertilizers to Brazilian agricultural producers.
Two weeks ago, the Brazilian foreign minister said that the country wants to buy as much diesel as possible from Russia, with whom it is finalizing an agreement to acquire this type of fuel at a cheaper price.
Source: Observadora
