Brazil's Lula insists on group of nations to mediate peace talks between Russia, Ukraine

By Bala Chambers

BUENOS AIRES (AA) - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met Tuesday with his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis to continue his country's push for a peaceful solution to the Russia-Ukraine war, floating the idea of a group of neutral nations to mediate in the conflict.

Lula said Brazil's government condemns the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity and supports a negotiated political solution to the war, according to Brazilian state news agency Agencia Brasil.

“We urgently need to create a group of countries that try to sit down at the table with both Ukraine and Russia to find peace,” he said at Itamaraty Palace in the capital Brasília.

Lula also expressed his government's "concern over the effects of the war, which go beyond the European continent."

"I reiterated my concern about the global consequences of this conflict in terms of food and energy security, especially in the poorest regions of the planet,” he said.

On Monday, Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira dismissed remarks by White House national security spokesperson John Kirby that his country was "parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda.”

Viera's comments followed his meeting earlier that day with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, where he called for “respect for humanitarian law and a negotiated solution with a view to a lasting peace that addresses the concerns" of both Russia and Ukraine and also for "neutral nations" to mediate in negotiations.

Lavrov thanked Brazil for its efforts to negotiate an end to the war and said the Russian government is interested in resolving the conflict as quickly as possible.

The Russia-Ukraine war is now in its second year. In recent months, Lula has been seeking a peaceful end to the conflict, advocating that countries as well as the European Union push for peace talks, according to Agencia Brasil.