President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was received this Saturday (22) by the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The opening of the official commitments of the Brazilian head of state began with a reception by the Portuguese colleague in front of the Jerónimos Monastery, with military honors. At the monastery, Lula took flowers to honor the Portuguese writer Luís de Camões. Afterwards, at the National Palace of Belém, the president’s official residence, Lula and Rebelo de Sousa held a meeting followed by a press conference.
Watch the full interview with Lula in Portugal
The war in Ukraine was once again the focus of questions, and Lula was once again asked if he maintains the opinion that the United States and Europe, including Portugal, are also responsible for the war. The president reiterated that the Brazilian position, condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had already been expressed at the UN. And he also repeated that whoever does not speak of peace contributes to war.
As an example, he recalled that Germany asked Brazil for armaments to supply Ukraine’s allies and refused. In this way, he indirectly criticized European countries that, instead of seeking dialogue, stimulate conflict by supplying it with weapons, ammunition and military forces.
“See, if you don’t talk about peace, you contribute to war. I’ll tell you a case: Chancellor Olaf Scholz went to ask Brazil to sell missiles so that he could donate them to Ukraine. Brazil refused to sell, because if we sold, Brazil would be at war. And Brazil does not want to participate in the war. Brazil wants to build peace”, declared president Lula.
The president, then, accentuated the condemnation of the territorial invasion of Ukraine. But he again criticized the lack of efforts by all parties involved to stop the conflict and negotiate peace.
Thus, he stressed that “we are not in favor of war”. “Brazil wants to find a way to establish peace between Russia and Ukraine, it does not want to participate in the war. Brazil wants to find a group of people who are willing to spend a little time talking with those who preach for peace to make peace”, he insisted.
“Russia does not want to stop, Ukraine does not want to stop,” he said, reiterating that it is only possible to negotiate peace with the help of other countries. “It’s better to find your way out around a table than to keep trying to find your way out on the battlefield.”
New governance
On the environmental issue, Lula defended the effort to form a new global governance that begins to demand that countries, especially the most developed ones, comply with the various climate agreements already signed. “If you don’t have strong governance to demand compliance with decisions, we just go to meetings and make decisions. And the following year we have another meeting, make other decisions, and the next year we make another one, and the decisions never come into force”, he observed.
And he cited commitments to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to curb global warming that had never been respected.
“The Copenhagen COP (COP 15, in 2009) or the Paris Agreement (2015) have not yet been put into practice. The Kyoto Protocol (1997) never was. So we need to create a new world governance, and that is why Brazil has been fighting a lot for us to review, above all, the permanent members of the UN Security Council”, said Lula.
He argued that post-World War II geography no longer exists and that more member countries need to participate in council decisions.
Lula’s agenda in Portugal continues with a meeting with Prime Minister Antônio Costa, at the Centro de Cultura de Belém. Afterwards, he participated in the 13th Luso-Brazilian Summit.
Also this Saturday, at the summit, Brazil and Portugal sign 13 bilateral agreements in the areas of energy, culture, education, tourism, health and human rights.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
