Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva showed his displeasure on Monday after a scheduled meeting in Japan with Volodymyr Zelenskiy was suspended. "I'm not disappointed, I'm upset," Lula admitted without qualms, after the "lack" of the leader of Ukraine.
"We waited, we received information that they had been delayed, and in the meantime I attended to the leader of Vietnam. It left, we waited and Ukraine did not appear. That's what happened," Lula explained angrily to the São Paulo newspaper Folha.
Lula, who participated in a G7 meeting in Hiroshima, told the Brazilian media that he perceived a certain "disinterest" of his Ukrainian counterpart "in negotiating peace."
Lula gave a press conference after the G7 meeting in Japan. Photo: AP
"Whether I had another, more serious problem, a more important meeting, I don't know. The concrete fact is that a meeting with Zelenski was scheduled here in this room at 15:15 p.m. and he never appeared," Lula said.
He said he was not "disappointed" by the absence of the meeting – as the Eastern European leader had suggested to the press the previous day – but "upset": "I would like to meet with him and discuss the matter. But look, Zelenskiy is of age, he knows what he's doing," he continued.
The Brazilian president then tried to tone down his displeasure, adding that "although the meeting did not take place now, there will be other opportunities in the future."
"I am trying, with India, China, Indonesia and other countries, to build a bloc to try to find a policy of peace in the world," Lula said. And he added without euphemisms: "We are a group of southern countries that want to find the peace that the north is not achieving.
"In that regard, the Brazilian leader drew criticism last month when he accused the United States of "encouraging" war.
Criticism that was renewed on Monday when he again said that US President Joe Biden is sending the message that "Putin must surrender and pay for everything he destroyed." "That message is not helping," Lula said.
Zelenskiy's "fault"
Zelenskiy, who emerged from the G7 summit in Hiroshima with renewed diplomatic support and promises of more military aid, had sought a one-on-one meeting with Lula, who has been accused of being "soft" on Russia over its invasion.
The President of Ukraine was part of the G7 in Japan, but arrived late to the meeting established with Lula. Photo: Reuters
Both leaders said "there were scheduling problems that deprived them of meeting." However, after the failed meeting, the Ukrainian president was sarcastic "maybe the problems of agendas disappointed Lula," he said.
Lula said his team had scheduled a meeting with Zelenskiy for Sunday afternoon. However, the Ukrainian leader was late and said his schedule was filled afterwards.
Zelenskiy won considerable support from G7 leaders at the summit, including a long-awaited U.S. endorsement of F-16 fighter jets.
It also attracted non-G7 guest countries, such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who vowed to do "everything we can" to resolve the conflict.
From Brazil, on the other hand, there were no similar signs of support.
Lula said he did not understand the point of meeting Zelenskiy at this time because neither the Ukrainian president nor Russian President Vladimir Putin show signs of wanting peace.
"For now, both are convinced that they are going to win the war," he said.
With information from AFP