Brazil’s Lula Fears ‘more Ferocious War,’ Says Zelenskyy Was No-Show2 min read

HIROSHIMA, Japan — As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy swooped into the Group of Seven weekend in Hiroshima, a focal point was how he would engage with two invited leaders who remain on the fence between Russia and the West — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Zelenskyy and Modi sat down for what appeared to be a cordial discussion on the impact of Russia’s invasion and potential paths forward. On the other hand, no meeting with Lula happened, and when asked if he was disappointed, Zelenskyy shot back that maybe the Brazilians are.

On Monday, Lula told his side of the story: Zelenskyy, he said, did not show up.

“I was going to have a bilateral with Ukraine” on Sunday afternoon, he told to reporters. “We waited. And then we found out that they were running late.” Lula said he went ahead and met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chin for an hour. Still, there was no sign of Zelenskyy.

“Maybe they had another commitment,” Lula said. “That’s what simply happened.”

Lula, a trade unionist and left-wing politician who was president from 2003 to 2010 and returned to power last year, is frequently at odds with the West. The war in Ukraine is a case in point: He has argued that both sides bear responsibility and that Western support is prolonging the conflict and death. Many developing countries have also become weary of the war’s resultant spike in food and energy prices.

Asked if he was disappointed, as Zelenskyy had suggested, Lula denied it but said he was “upset a little bit because I would like to enjoy talking with him.” He said he is looking for an opportunity to meet the Ukrainian president some other time.

Sergiy Korsunsky, Ukraine’s ambassador to Japan, on Monday said he did not know whether it was a “technical” issue that prevented a meeting. “I have no idea, but they didn’t talk,” he said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden speak during the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima on May 21.   © Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via Reuters

Korsunsky argued that Lula “should be ready to meet President Zelenskyy at least to understand what’s going on.” He lamented the attitude of some world leaders, raising the example of what Syrian President Bashar al-Assad did during Zelenskyy’s address to the Arab League Summit in Jeddah on Friday. The Syrian president “took off his interpretation headset to send a message that he doesn’t want to listen,” Korsunsky said.

Calling Brazil a “big important player,” he said, “They should meet, they should talk.”

But in any conversation, Lula and Zelenskyy would be coming from diametrically opposed perspectives.