It is the first time that Lula da Silva and Zelensky meet. The meeting takes place in a context of criticism from both parties for the Brazilian president’s positions on the war.
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The Brazilian president, Lula da Silva, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting on Wednesday in New York, a Brazilian presidential source confirmed to Lusa on Monday.
According to information previously provided by the Brazilian press, and now confirmed to Lusa, the two presidents They must meet around 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday at the hotel where the Brazilian president is staying during his stay in the North American city to participate in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The meeting between Lula da Silva and Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to take place after the meeting that the Brazilian leader will have with the North American president, Joe Biden.
This will be the first time that Lula da Sila and Volodymyr Zelensky will hold a bilateral meeting, after, in May, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, the meeting ultimately did not take place, with Volodymyr Zelensky stating that “there were no steps ” by Lula da Silva. On the other hand, the Brazilian head of state claimed to be “upset” after the Ukrainian delegation postponed the meeting until finally not showing up.
Zelensky says he did not meet with Lula “because there were no steps”
Despite condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24 last year, The Brazilian president had already admitted in April the transfer of Crimea, illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.as a way out of the conflict and, at the BRICS summit, he once again called for a negotiated peace and the abandonment of an “obsolete Cold War mentality.”
The now confirmed meeting between the heads of state of Brazil and Ukraine takes place at a time of conflictive relations between both countries, due to the statements made by Lula da Silva in relation to the war between Russia and Ukraine, the last of which It was by stating that he would not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin under a decision of the International Criminal Court if he came to Brazil.
The Brazilian President retracted his statements saying that such a decision would correspond to the Brazilian justice system, but insisted that the country should review its presence in the International Criminal Court.
Putin is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued in March on suspicion of war crimes over the deportation of Ukrainian children.
“I really want to study this issue of this Criminal Court, because the United States is not a signatory to it, Russia is not a signatory to it. So I want to know why Brazil is a signatory to a court that the United States does not accept. Why are we inferior and have to accept something? ”said Lula da Silva, in India, during her participation in the G20 Summit last week.
Zelensky reminds Lula that “the war is not in Brazil” and distances himself from territorial concessions
Days before, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, reminded his Brazilian counterpart that Ukrainians are victims of the Russian invasion and that “the war is not in Brazil”, rejecting territorial concessions and asking for respect for independent states.
“The war is specifically in Ukraine, the victims are specifically Ukrainians. It’s not Brazilians, not other Europeans, not Americans. There are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who died or were injured, it was our houses that were attacked or bombed, not the houses of Brazil or other countries,” Zelensky said in an interview with RTP.
Volodymyr Zelensky and Lula da Silva will meet in New York
Source: Observadora
