Brazilian president will urge Putin to personally attend talks in Istanbul
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has announced that he will call on Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymir Zelenski in Turkey during peace talks on the war in Ukraine.
Lula has joined the calls of many other countries to go to Istanbul personally in direct negotiations with Kiev.
« I will try to talk to Putin, » Lula said at a news conference in Beijing, ahead of a planned visit to Moscow on a return to Brazil. « Nothing prevents me from saying, » Hey, my friend, Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate, « he added.
Talks in Istanbul tomorrow will be the first direct talks between Ukraine and Russia from spring 2022.
Lula made his comment after Kiev asked Brazil to use his influence on Moscow to secure a meeting between Putin and Greenski.
For their part, yesterday China and Brazil announced a joint declaration in which they welcomed « Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to launch peace talks » with Ukraine.
In the text, both sides describe direct dialogue as « the only way to end the conflict ».
Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski urged his US counterpart Donald Trump to visit Turkey and participate in the negotiations, but later announced that Secretary of State Marko Rubio would travel to Istanbul.
The Kremlin has not yet announced whether President Vladimir Putin will join the negotiations, only announcing that a Russian delegation will attend.
