Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not show up for a scheduled meeting with him on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
On Sunday, the Financial Times reported that French President Emmanuel Macron had personally asked Lula to meet with Zelenskyy at the summit. Zelensky, in turn, said that it was the Brazilian president who should be disappointed that the meeting did not take place.
"A bilateral meeting with Ukraine was scheduled in this hall. We waited and received information that they [the Ukrainian side] were running late. In the meantime, I received the Vietnamese president. When he left, Ukraine did not show up. He [Zelenskyy] definitely had another meeting ... I was not disappointed, I was upset because I wanted to meet him... Zelenskyy is an adult and knows what he is doing," Lula said at a press conference following the summit on Sunday.
The Brazilian leader also said in his blog that the UN Security Council failed to prevent the conflict in Ukraine and that the world needs another international institute that will have enough power and authority. He also urged that the UN General Assembly be moved from September to July to discuss a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Earlier in April, Lula said that the United States and Europe should start talking about reaching a settlement in Ukraine and not encourage the conflict. He also suggested creating a format similar to the G20 to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
In late February, the Brazilian president called for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and said Russia needs to be provided with "minimum conditions'' to do so.
