Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pitched his country as a peacemaker in Russia’s war with Ukraine. But now he seems to have accepted that neither side is ready to lay down arms anytime soon.
Brazil is “trying to find some way to use the word peace,” he told foreign correspondents at a breakfast on Wednesday. Later, referring to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, he said, “Right now, they’re both in the stage of ‘I’m going to win, I’m going to win, I’m going to win.’
Brazil — Latin America’s largest country, which has long pursued a foreign policy of neutrality — believes it is well positioned to help end the war. Mr. Lula said Brazilian officials have spoken with counterparts in China, India, South Africa and Indonesia, as well as other Latin American and African countries, about peace talks.
He said he had made his chief foreign policy adviser, Celso Amorim, his “special war envoy” and sent him to meetings with Mr. Putin in Moscow and Mr. Zelensky in Kyiv.
And he blocked Brazil from selling any weapons that could be used in war.
But none of those efforts have yielded much progress, he said.
However, Brazil is not giving up. Mr. Amorim, who will be away from a meeting on Ukraine’s peace plan scheduled for Saturday in Saudi Arabia, said in an interview Wednesday that his approach was to respect both Ukraine and Russia, even if one attacked another.
“The territorial integrity of states must be respected,” he said. “Security concerns, including Russia, must also be respected by all.”
Mr. Amorim said he believes Brazil has more influence over Russia than Ukraine, in part because of its place in a bloc known as BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
China, he said, has already helped tone down Moscow’s rhetoric about nuclear weapons. He said the United States could also play an important role in encouraging Ukraine to seek peace.
Brazil’s insistence that Russia’s concerns should be heard has frustrated Ukraine and its Western allies. When a planned meeting between Mr. Lula and Mr. Zelensky on the sidelines of the Group of 7 Summit in Japan in May failed to happen, the leaders blamed each other.
Mr. has said Lula both Russia and Ukraine caused the war. And Mr. Zelensky criticized Mr. Lula’s call for peace talks, saying the Brazilian leader just wants to be “original.”
But Mr. Zelensky seemed to encourage improving relations recently when he suggested that Brazil host a summit for Latin American countries that could attend Ukraine.
Mr. Amorim, Brazil’s chief foreign policy adviser, said Brazil would welcome Mr. Zelensky for a visit — but will not host meetings for him.
“Brazil does not have to be a stage for anyone, not for Zelensky, not for Putin,” he said. “We want peace, we want Ukrainians to live in peace, to end the war in which they are the main victims. But for that, we also have to have credibility with the other side.”
Paulo Motoryn contributed reporting.