President Volodymyr Zelensky personally met with President of Brazil Lula da Silva for the first time. It happened in the USA.
According to the Ukrainian leader, there was a frank and constructive conversation between them. Zelensky and Lula instructed the diplomatic teams to work on the next steps in bilateral relations and efforts to restore peace.
The Brazilian representative will continue to work in meetings regarding the Peace Formula.
- In the evening of September 18, Zelensky arrived in New York. He will speak at the UN General Assembly, the Sustainable Development Goals Summit and the Security Council.
- On June 1, the Brazilian president condemned Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine. Before that, he took a neutral position and said that he did not want to choose a side in Russiaʼs war against Ukraine, but wanted to remain on the "side of peace."
- On May 22, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that he was "upset" that the meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky at the G7 summit failed because the latter was late. According to the Brazilian president, he was waiting for a bilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, but he "didnʼt show up... obviously, he had [other] meetings and he couldnʼt come." Lula da Silva added that Zelensky is "not a child" and knows what he is doing. In response to this, Zelensky said that everyone has their own schedules, which is why it prevented a meeting with Lula. When the Ukrainian president was asked at a press conference if he was disappointed by this situation, he replied: "I think it disappoints him [Brazilʼs president]."
- In early 2023, Lula da Silva refused to transfer Gepard anti-aircraft shells to Ukraine, and later said he wanted to mediate between Ukraine and Russia to end the war.
- In an interview with TIME in May 2022, Lula da Silva said that not only Putin is to blame for Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine, but also the United States, the EU, and Zelensky. He said that Ukraine should have abandoned the path to the EU and NATO, and instead negotiated with Russia.
- The president of Brazil also offered to hand over the occupied Crimea to Russia in order to stop its war against Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine replied that there is no reason to cede their lands. Later, he noted that the US should stop "encouraging war" in Ukraine and "start talking about peace." Da Silva also stated that neither Putin nor Zelensky are making any peace initiatives.