Ukraine should have built dialogue with Brazil before war began, says Brazil President Lula

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that his country cannot take sides in the Russian-Ukrainian war, emphasizing that Ukraine should have built ties with Brazil before the full-scale invasion began, instead of "asking for help" now,  Correio Braziliense reported.

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"It's important for Brazil not to participate in the war between Ukraine and Russia. That's why it's crucial for Brazil to say we want peace, we don't want war. Those who want to talk to us now could have talked to us before the war started," Lula said.

The Brazilian president made this statement after his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited him to visit Ukraine and "see the war with his own eyes."

On September 12, in an interview with Brazilian channel Metrópoles, Zelenskyy stated that if Lula supported Ukraine, he would help stop the war, given Brazil's significant global influence.

At the time, the Ukrainian leader also voiced criticism of the Chinese-Brazilian "peace plan," which, according to Ukraine's ambassador to Brazil, Andriy Melnyk, had been prepared by Brasilia "behind Kyiv's back."

Read also: Zelenskyy calls China-Brazil 'peace plan' destructive