New Delhi: The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has said that the Russia-Ukraine war was making humanity tired. The Brazilian leader, popularly known as Lula, was in the city to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit.
In his remarks at a press briefing, Lula lauded the fact that G20 countries were able to release a joint statement, in which Brazil is understood to have played a crucial role.
“On the Russia-Ukraine crisis, India worked very closely with Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia. I want to say that it was the emerging markets which played a very key role. There was very tough, very ruthless negotiations for several days non-stop,” said India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant during a press briefing.
Brazil will officially take over the presidency of the G20 on1 December. Lula expressed the hope that president Xi Jinping of China and president Vladimir Putin of Russia would attend the G20 Summit in Brazil in 2024.
The G20 countries were able to agree on a joint declaration after resolving differences over language referring to the war in Ukraine. Brazil’s Lula has been a vocal supporter of the concept of a club of neutral countries pushing for peace in the war. Lula also called on the US to “stop encouraging war and start talking about peace.” This had led to a sharp retort from America, which accused the Brazilian president of “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda.”
Lula also called for reform of international institutions during his press briefing. India and Brazil are part of the G4 group of countries, which includes Japan and Germany. These four have pushed for an expansion in the United Nations Security Council and agreed to back each other’s bids for a permanent seat on the UNSC.
“What happened at G20 is more important than the money spent in organizing it. The global biofuel alliance is one great initiative, so we should say India invested the money, not spent the money,” Lula was quoted as saying about India’s new initiative, which was launched during the G20.
He also spoke of the prospect of including other groupings in the G20.
“Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) countries are already in G20— Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. African Union membership was very important. Let’s see if the situation develops to take other groupings as well,” president Lula said. The African Union became a permanent member of the G20 in 2023.
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Updated: 11 Sep 2023, 02:12 PM IST