Brazil’s president urges India, Indonesia to join alliance to broker peace in Ukraine

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO CITY (AA) - Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Tuesday that he will invite India and Indonesia to join a peace initiative to end the war in Ukraine.

Lula, who spoke following a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, has called for an international bloc of large economies to push for dialogue and a peaceful end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

In January, the Brazilian leader shared his idea to create an international organization similar to the G20 to end the conflict, with China leading the peace initiative.

Lula discussed the initiative with other Latin American leaders during a virtual meeting in March hosted by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

"I think this is the time for diplomacy, not war. Everyone knows that Brazil condemned the territorial invasion of Ukraine. But at the same time, the continuation of the war will only lead to an increase in the death toll," said Lula following his meeting with Rutte.

Lula has been vocal in condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine, denouncing the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity. However, the 77-year-old head of state has also refused to intervene in the war directly by providing weapons to Ukrainian forces, saying he is working towards a peaceful solution.

Following his meeting with Rutte, Lula said his special advisor for International Affairs, Celso Amorim, was currently traveling to Ukraine after visiting Putin, where he will meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in hopes of arriving at a peace dialogue.

Celso “already knows what Putin wants, and now he will know what Zelenskyy wants. We will have instruments to talk with other countries and build, who knows, the possibility of stopping this war," said Lula.