After verbal criticism from the US, which accuses him of “an intrusion of Russian and Chinese propaganda,” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva turned around and unequivocally condemned Russia’s “violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity” on Tuesday.

On Monday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reacted in this way to statements by President Lula, who during his visit to China accused the US of “promoting war” in Ukraine, believing that they should “talk about peace.”

A position consistent with that formulated by Moscow and Beijing, which blame Western countries for the war that broke out in Ukraine in February 2022 with the Russian invasion.

Unlike Western powers, Brazil has never imposed economic sanctions on Russia because of the war, nor has it sent weapons to Ukraine; like China, it says it wants to play a mediating role.

On Tuesday, during an event honoring Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who is visiting Brazil, Lula reaffirmed his desire for peace: “Condemning the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, my government is seeking a political solution to the conflict through negotiations.” said.

Lula’s top foreign policy adviser, Celso Amorim, called Kirby’s remarks “absurd”. “We have common ground (with Russia), but Brazil under the current government has repeatedly condemned the invasion of Ukraine,” Mr. Amorim, who was Brazil’s foreign minister during Lula’s first two terms, reminded Globonews.

The American representative’s statements were already rejected on Monday by current Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov: “I don’t know how and why[Mr Kerby]came to this conclusion. But I totally disagree,” he said.

During his visit to Brasilia, Mr. Lavrov thanked Brazil “for its contribution” to finding “a solution to this conflict.”

Patriot from Germany.

Meanwhile, Germany has supplied Ukraine with advanced US-made Patriot air defense systems to help Kyiv defend itself against frequent Russian missile attacks.

The system was included on Tuesday in the list of weapons transferred by Germany to Ukraine, posted on the government website.

The mobile array is considered one of the most technologically advanced systems on the planet. It can counter aircraft, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

Germany and the United States agreed to supply Ukraine with one unit each. The systems will be used to protect critical infrastructure.

Ukrainian troops were trained by Germans and Americans in the NATO member country, which also hosted joint training in the use of the systems, sources close to the Bundeswehr, Germany’s federal army, told the German news agency.

Source: RES-IPE