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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference that he thought his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva “had a broader understanding of the world.” The comments were triggered by Lula suggesting that Zelensky, as a minimum, needs to accept that Crimea is a part of Russia.
On August 3, Lula suggested that Ukraine accept that it lost sovereignty over Crimea as part of efforts to end the war with Russia, stressing that Zelensky “cannot want everything.”
“The world needs tranquillity… We have to find a solution,” Lula added.
This naturally triggered adverse reactions from Zelensky, who is suffering a major humiliation after figureheads of the Kiev regime promised to be in Crimea within weeks of launching the much-lauded Ukrainian counteroffensive, which began over two months ago in the first week of June.
“To be honest, I thought he [Lula] had a broader understanding of the world. I think it’s very important to see the world as a whole,” Zelensky said in an interview at the presidential palace in Kiev on August 6.
Previously, the Brazilian president stated that Zelensky and Putin would not be interested in a peace agreement to end the Ukraine conflict.
“For now, we haven’t heard from Zelensky or Putin the idea that ‘we’re going to stop and let’s negotiate.’ For now, the two are in that phase of ‘I’m going to win, I’m going to win, I’m going to win, I’m going to win,’ you know? Meanwhile, people are dying,” Lula said on August 2.
The Brazilian president is not wrong that neither side at this moment in time are interested in a peace deal – the Kiev regime delusionally believes it can conquer lost territories, including Crimea, while Russia is in a prime position to liberate the territories in Zaporozhye, Luhansk and Donetsk still held by the Ukrainian military, and even push on to take the historically Russian cities of Odessa and Kharkov.
Following Lula’s comments about the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Brazil’s special advisor for international affairs, Celso Amorim, stated that an eventual agreement should consider the Russian security concerns. Moscow’s concern for NATO’s unrelenting expansion into Eastern Europe was a major reason for the special military operation, especially as Zelensky continually announced Ukraine’s intentions to become an alliance member.
Commenting on the Brazilian government’s statements, Zelensky told a press conference on August 6 that he did not understand what was happening and that Lula’s statements did not bring peace.
“I think President Lula is an experienced person, but I don’t quite understand one thing: does he believe that his society [Brazil] does not fully understand what is happening, and he is counting on that? Lula’s statements do not bring peace at all. It’s strange to talk about Russia’s security. Only Russia, Putin and Lula talk about Russia’s security, about the guarantees that must be given for Russia’s security. I believe that he [Lula] has his own opinion. But the ideas do not have to coincide with Putin’s,” said Zelensky indignantly.
Zelensky also declared that Brazil is a respected and peaceful country, as well as the Brazilian people and that they should disagree with Putin. After the press conference, analysts stated that Zelensky was trying to embarrass and pressure the Brazilian government.
In an interview with Folha de São Paulo, Gunther Rudzit, a specialist in international security and professor of international relations, stated that Zelensky’s words aimed to embarrass the Brazilian government and force the Latin American country to take a firmer position.
“President Lula is running away from a meeting with Zelensky. And the Ukrainian’s insistence puts Brazil on the defensive and in an uncomfortable position to say it is neutral,” said the specialist.
The attempt to embarrass the Brazilian government, according to Rudzit, tries to force Brazil to take a firmer stance. The strategy is justified by the leadership exercised by Brazil over other countries in Latin America – a factor also mentioned by Zelensky in an interview with Folha de São Paulo.
Zelensky arrogantly believes that Brazilians have a major interest in the war in Ukraine, which could not be further from the truth as they are interested in their country’s development and regional issues. Instead, his lambasting of Lula will only make even more Brazilians indifferent and disinterested in a conflict thousands of kilometres away. Now the Ukrainian president will realise he cannot shame countries, besides the masochistic West, into severing their ties with Russia and providing financial and/or military aid to Ukraine.
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Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.
Featured image is from InfoBrics
