President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).| Photo: EFE/Andre Borges.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) condemned this Tuesday (18) the “violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity” and defended a “political and negotiated” solution to the war. In February last year, Russia invaded the neighboring country and started the conflict.

“While my government condemns the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, we defend a negotiated political solution to the conflict. I spoke of our concern with the effects of the war, which go beyond the European continent,” said Lula after meeting with the president. from Romania, Klaus Iohannis.

Lula’s new speech comes after the repercussions of the visit of the Russian Foreign Minister, Serguei Lavrov, to Brazil. In addition, this weekend, the PT again affirmed that the “decision for the war was taken by two countries” and stressed that the United States and Europe ended up contributing to the continuity of the conflict.

The statements and the visit of the Russian chancellor caused strong repercussions. This Monday (17), the spokesman for the American National Security Council, John Kirby, said in a press conference that Lula’s speech was “deeply problematic” and that Brazil “is repeating Russian and Chinese propaganda without looking at the facts”.

The spokesman for the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Peter Stano, also refuted Lula’s speech. “It is not true that the EU and US are helping to prolong the conflict [da Rússia contra a Ucrânia]. The truth is that Ukraine is the victim of an unlawful aggression in violation of the Charter of the United Nations,” Stano said on Monday.