President Lula da Silva offered two times in his schedule to meet with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on bilateral agendas during the 78th United Nations General Assembly, in New York, United States.
The information was passed on to the newspaper O Globo by the senator and government leader, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), who is part of the Brazilian government delegation. According to the senator, the meeting is expected to take place on Monday (18) or Tuesday (19).
The likely meeting between the two will take place after the disagreement in May, during the G7 summit meeting in Hiroshima. At the time, there was great expectation for this meeting, due to the Brazilian president’s statements that diminished Moscow’s guilt for the War.
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The Brazilian government reported that it offered two times and that, even so, the Ukrainian leader did not attend. Zelensky, in turn, stated that Brazil was slow to respond to his requests, and when the times were informed, he no longer had time on his agenda.
The disagreement shook relations between the two countries. Zelensky, after this episode, made controversial statements. In one of them, he stated that Lula did not think on his own about the war and repeated what Vladmir Putin thought.
Kiev wants Brazil to adopt a tougher and more critical tone towards Russia. President Lula has been defending, during international declarations, the creation of a group of countries to help create a way out of war. The Brazilian government has condemned the invasion of Ukraine and does not agree with economic sanctions imposed on Russia.
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President Lula is already in New York. In addition to the UN General Assembly, the president will have meetings with businesspeople and the President of the United States, Joe Biden. The two are expected to announce on Wednesday (20) a global initiative in defense of decent work in the 21st century.
Editing: Thalita Pires
