Lula invited to attend G7 summit – 07/04/2023 – World

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was invited by the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, to participate in the G7 summit, a group that brings together some of the largest economies in the world.

The Asian country, which will host the meeting in Hiroshima from May 19 to 21, had already signaled to the Brazilian government that it would invite the president. The official announcement was made during a call between the two heads of the Executive on Thursday night (6).

The G7 is formed by the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France and Germany, in addition to Japan itself. In addition, the collegiate usually invites developing countries to its annual meetings.

Brazil participated in the summits from 2004 to 2009, between the 1st and 2nd Lula governments. Now, in 2023, the country receives the invitation again for the first time since then.

Lula leaves for China next Tuesday (11), where he will stay until Friday (14). Initially, the trip was scheduled for the beginning of the month, but had to be postponed after diagnosis of pneumonia.

The trip to China is the president’s second international trip, apart from neighboring countries. The first, faster, went to the United States. At the end of the month, he will also go to Portugal and Spain.

In Beijing, Lula will have a bilateral meeting with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, where one of his main ambitions on the international stage will be put to the test: to present himself as a facilitator of a dialogue for peace in the Ukraine War, which has lasted more than a year and has a direct impact on the global economy.

The Brazilian government has already received positive signals from the Chinese that Xi is willing to deal with the situation in Ukraine with Lula, and the Brazilian should also meet with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, and with the head of Parliament, Zhao Leji.

In a conversation with journalists at the Planalto Palace, on Thursday (6th), Lula said that “this war is over” and again said that he would discuss peace with Xi Jinping.

“What [Vladimir] Putin want? He cannot keep the territory of Ukraine. Crimea may not even be discussed, but the newness it invaded will have to be rethought,” he said.

Lula also said that the peace conversation that should have started a year ago is now starting. She recalled that her former foreign minister and now special advisor, Celso Amorim, had recently traveled to Russia.

A Sheet Amorim says he was surprised by the receptivity of Vladimir Putin’s government — the Russian president himself received him, for a conversation that lasted an hour, at the Kremlin Palace, in Moscow.

He and the Brazilian delegation spoke with the Russian, through simultaneous translation into English, at Putin’s “giant table”, a five-meter piece of furniture that became a meme during the Covid pandemic.