Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday called on the United Nations to assemble a group of countries tasked with seeking a resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Lula reiterated a comment he had made at a news conference with France's President Emmanuel Macron this week, during a state visit.
While both Macron and Lula praised the strong ties between France and Brazil, Thursday's press conference highlighted diverging views over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Macron stressed that Kyiv and Moscow should not be treated as equals, in contrast to Brazil's proclaimed neutral stance on the conflict.
"There is an aggressor, which is Russia. There is a victim, which is Ukraine. We all want peace, but we cannot treat the two belligerents equally," said Macron, stressing that Brazil had "a very important role to play" in finding a solution to the conflict.
Lula put forward the suggestion that "the UN can become a protagonist in this matter again", calling UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "a good man".
Listen to both sides
The United Nations chief should "propose a group of friends" to both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who would then "talk with them both, listen to their respective truths and then build an alternative", Lula said.
"What I am proposing is the creation of a commission consisting of countries that are not involved in the war to talk with Zelensky and Putin," he said.
Neither side would "get what they want but they can get what is possible", he said. "Neither 100 percent of Zelensky's position, nor 100 percent of Putin's position."
Russia and Ukraine hold first peace talks since 2022
Last month, Lula said he wanted to "strengthen and rebuild a strategic partnership" with Russia during a trip to Moscow to mark 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany alongside other world leaders.
In contrast to most European countries, Lula maintains friendly relations with Moscow, while France has been one of the most vocal supporters of Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Lula, who in July is to host the next summit of the BRICS group of nations in Rio de Janeiro, said that Putin was invited to the meeting despite a warrant for his arrest issued by the International Criminal Court over alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Prisoner swap
A second round of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine opened this week in Istanbul, after a first round failed to secure a pause in more than three years of fighting.
But a major prisoner exchange – the only concrete outcome of peace talks so far – was in doubt on Saturday after Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of delaying and thwarting the swap.
France leads Europe’s big five in pushing for stronger Ukraine defence
Kyiv and Moscow had agreed to release all wounded soldiers and those aged under-25 that had been captured – more than 1,000 people on each side.
Russia said it would also hand back 6,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers.
Moscow on Saturday accused Ukraine of not turning up to collect the dead bodies and not agreeing a date to swap the captured soldiers, while Kyiv said Russia was playing "dirty games" by not sticking to the agreed parameters for the exchange.
'Manipulations', 'dirty games'
"The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period, both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war," Russia's top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on social media.
Responding to Russia's accusations, Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said no date had been agreed for the return of bodies.
It also said a list of names Russia said would be released did not match the terms of the agreement.
France leads EU push for tougher Russia sanctions amid ceasefire stalemate
"Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are again faced with manipulations," it said in a statement on social media.
"We call on the Russian side to stop playing dirty games and return to constructive work to bring people back to both sides and to clearly implement the agreement in the coming days," it added.
The spat came hours after Russia launched a massive aerial attack across Ukraine, heavily targeting the city of Kharkiv.
At least eight people were killed in the overnight barrage and frontline shelling in total, officials said.
(with AFP)
