President Klaus Iohannis, who is on an official visit to Brazil, for the first time at the head of state level in the last 23 years, was received on Tuesday by his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. At a joint press conference, Klaus Iohannis noted that the central message of his visit is the dynamism of relations between the two countries. The head of state also discussed the war in Ukraine and Romania’s position on this conflict with his Brazilian counterpart.

The head of state was received on Tuesday in the Itamaraty Palace. President Klaus Iohannis was accompanied by his wife Carmen Iohannis. And the President of Brazil was accompanied by his wife Rosangela da Silva.

This was followed by official talks between the heads of the two states, followed by joint statements to the press.

President Klaus Iohannis is on a tour of Latin America until April 26. On Wednesday, on the second day of his official visit to Brazil, the first at the level of a head of state in the last 23 years, he will meet with local authorities in Rio de Janeiro. After Brazil, the next stages of the South American tour of the head of state are official visits to the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Argentina, the first of this level in the last 10 years, respectively in the last 30 years.

The delegation of President Klaus Iohannis includes Minister of Foreign Affairs Bohdan Aurescu, presidential advisers Luminica Odobescu, Cosmin Marinescu, Daniela Barsan, Delia Dinu, state advisers Sandra Pralong and Alexandra Boche.

Klaus Iohannis: “Russia is an aggressor state”

At a joint press conference, Klaus Iohannis noted that the central message of his visit is the dynamism of relations between the two countries. The head of state also discussed the situation in Ukraine with his Brazilian counterpart and presented Romania’s position on this conflict.

Among the statements of President Klaus Iohannis:

• I am glad to be in Brazil, Romania’s old friend, as well as Romania’s most important economic partner in the Latin American region.
• The main message of my visit is Romania’s desire for deepening and dynamism of bilateral relations for the benefit of our peoples.
• Today we adopted a Joint Declaration on the development of bilateral relations. This document reaffirms our mutual commitment to revitalizing our relationship in the coming years, and provides the guidance and political momentum needed to expand contacts between the two countries.
• We agreed that it is necessary to continue joint efforts to encourage businessmen of our countries to identify and initiate joint projects, as well as to stimulate mutual investments.

“Romania will continue to fearlessly support Ukraine. Any support for Ukraine’s security is actually support for Romania’s security.”

• During the negotiations, we obviously also touched on complex regional and global events. I presented to Mr. President our vision of the security situation on the border of Romania and the war of aggression that Russia started against Ukraine.
• The message of Romania, as a neighboring state with the longest border between the European Union and NATO countries with Ukraine, is clear, strong and should be understood by our partners:
• No matter how Moscow tries to justify its actions, Russia is an aggressor state that forcibly violated the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and tried to cancel its independence, also violating the UN Charter.
• Ukraine is a victim of Russian aggression. All the negative consequences of this global aggression are a direct consequence of Russia’s actions, which are contrary to international law.
• The international community is obliged to support Ukraine in renouncing aggression and winning this war for the liberation of the country.
• Romania will continue to support Ukraine unabated, and any support for the security of Ukraine is actually support for the security of Romania and its citizens.
• I also presented to Mr. President the consequences of the war in various aspects, from the refugee situation to the energy or food crisis.
• Against the backdrop of the global food crisis caused by the war, Romania and Brazil, agricultural producers and food suppliers, have become important actors in food security.

“We support the speedy conclusion of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur”

• I want to assure Brazil of the support of our country and of my personal support to advance the agenda of the European Union and Brazil through projects that will benefit Brazilian and European citizens.
• Therefore, we support the speedy conclusion of the trade agreement between the European Union and MERCOSUR.
• I assured Mr. President that I personally support the efforts so that this year we have a historic summit of the European Union – Community of Latin American and Caribbean States with important results. We will be involved in the success of this event in order to put interregional relations on a more promising and sustainable trajectory.
• We also discussed the process of our countries’ accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development following the invitation received by Romania and Brazil on January 25, 2022, to start accession negotiations.
• I invited President Lula da Silva to visit Romania and express my belief that relations between our countries will strengthen.

Lula da Silva accused the US and Europe of prolonging the conflict

We will remind that the President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the other day that he discussed with China and the United Arab Emirates joint mediation in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Earlier, he accused the US of prolonging the conflict. On Sunday, Lula da Silva also added Europe to the list of those “encouraging hostilities”.

“Europe and the USA continue to contribute to the continuation of the war. In conditions in which they have to sit at the table and say: ‘Enough,'” said the president of Brazil.

The White House has sharply criticized Brazil’s president, accusing him of promoting Russian and Chinese propaganda about the war launched by President Vladimir Putin on February 24 last year.

“In this particular case, Brazil is repeating Russian and Chinese propaganda, regardless of the facts,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in Washington after Lula de Silva accused Washington of “encouraging war” in Ukraine.

The Brazilian president also previously said that Ukraine should give up Crimea in order to reach a peace agreement with Russia, a proposal that Kiev rejected.

Commenting on this proposal by the Brazilian president, John Kirby said on Monday that his statements were “baseless”.

On the same topic:

• Ukraine invited Brazilian President Lula de Silva to visit the country to see the consequences of the war started by Vladimir Putin
• In Brazil, Sergey Lavrov says that Russia wants peace with Ukraine “as soon as possible”

Read also:

• Klaus Johannis is leaving for a tour of South America in 9 days. Official visits to Brazil, Chile and Argentina
• The President of Romania also flies to Brazil, Argentina and Chile on a plane leased from the Luxembourg airline Global Jet
• VIDEO Iohannis’ reaction to the question of whether he knows why the expenses of his trips abroad are secret