Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva confirmed on Friday his intention to form a group of countries to work on peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, a year after the start of the conflict, AFP reported, citing Agerpres.

“There is an urgent need for a group of countries not involved in the conflict to take responsibility for restoring peace,” the Brazilian head of state wrote on Twitter.

Lula da Silva already mentioned this idea of ​​a “peace group” at the end of a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on January 30 in Brasilia.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mykhailo Galuzin said Thursday that Moscow is studying the proposal.

“We took note of the Brazilian president’s statements regarding possible mediation to find ways to avoid escalation in Ukraine,” the deputy minister said in an interview with the Russian news agency TASS.

“We are considering these initiatives, especially because of Brazil’s balanced position,” he added.

Lula da Silva, 77, recently refused to send ammunition to Ukraine, saying that Brazil is a “country of peace.”

Last year, he came under fire for telling Time magazine that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “just as responsible” for the conflict as his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira stressed on Friday in an article published in the Estado de S.Paulo daily newspaper that Brazil does not have a “ready-made solution” but that it is “open to dialogue with countries that want to find an agreement on the cessation of hostilities actions in Ukraine.

Brazil is participating as an observer in the second naval exercise involving South Africa, China and Russia, which began on Wednesday near the port of Durban, South Africa’s largest Indian Ocean port, and Richards Bay, about 180 kilometers to the north.

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