RIO DE JANEIRO, May 10. /TASS/: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday that he plans to offer Brasilia's services as a mediator for settling the Ukrainian conflict on the sidelines of the G7 summit, which is slated to be held in Hiroshima, Japan, later this month.
Addressing a joint news conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Brazilian leader said, "The continuation of the war will only cause more deaths. So, we must find someone who would be able to discuss peace, and Brazil is ready for that." Lula said that, prior to his relevant negotiations with Rutte, he had already discussed the issue with the Chinese president and the British prime minister, and that he would raise it with the president of Indonesia and many other leaders with whom he plans to meet at the G7 summit.
According to the Brazilian president, the situation in Ukraine, energy, battling climate change, economic development and the fight against unemployment are certain to be on the agenda of the G7 meeting in Hiroshima on May 20-21. "We have received multiple requests for bilateral meetings, and I am confident that the Ukrainian issue will be raised at every such meeting," Lula added.
And every side involved in the conflict has its arguments, he believes. While Ukraine is bound to resist what he called the unacceptable occupation of its territory, the EU has its arguments in favor of the decisions it has made, and Brazil and other countries have their reasons for trying to reach a compromise, the Brazilian leader said. Lula recalled that his country had condemned "the Russian military invasion" in a UN vote. "Now is the time for diplomacy, not for war," he emphasized.
Earlier, Lula called Russia a guarantor of a long-lasting global peace and proposed developing a new international format for a potential dialogue between Moscow and Kiev, saying that he stands ready to mediate any direct negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky.
