Ukrainians deliver letter of protest against Lula in Portugal

The Association of Ukrainians in Portugal delivered, this Friday (21), a letter to the Embassy of Brazil in Lisbon inviting President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to go to the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, and also to reject the declarations made by the president last weekend in Asia about the war in Ukraine.

The president of the association, Pavlo Sadokha, told the press that they will try to “explain the position of the Ukrainian community in Portugal and throughout Europe, in the face of the invasion of Russia” and that “Lula’s position is wrong”. A protest of Ukrainians was held in front of the Embassy at the time of delivery of the letter.

Sadhoka was referring to statements made by Lula last weekend, when he said that the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, respectively, “do not take the initiative” to reach peace, while “Europe and the United States end up contributing to the continuation of this war by sending weapons”.

“This war can be stopped when Putin is condemned, when Russian troops leave Ukraine. Only then can we sit down and talk,” Sadokha said, adding that “there are no neutral countries” in this conflict.

The letter will also “reinforce Zelensky’s invitation” for Lula to visit Kiev. A little earlier, Lula asked Celso Amorim, the Presidency’s special advisor for foreign policy, to visit Ukraine on a date yet to be negotiated.

“President Lula’s visit to Ukraine would mean that he shares the values ​​of the democratic world and is on the side of the Ukrainians,” added Sadokha.

“We are the ones who pay with lives, with the destruction of our country, for global political interests negotiating with the dictator Putin at the cost of the suffering of the countries that Russia invades. We do not want to see Brazil as an ally of Putin’s criminal regime, but We are concerned about your statements”, reads one of the paragraphs of the letter, which EFE Agency had access to.

Lula arrived in Lisbon in the morning on an official visit that will last until next Tuesday (25).

On his agenda are scheduled meetings with the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the prime minister, António Costa, and a bilateral summit that intends to advance common issues.