Lula raised two flags in Madrid, peace for Ukraine and Mercosur

First modification: 04/26/2023 – 15:44Last modification: 04/26/2023 – 16:49

Lula, who has received criticism from Westerners for considering his position towards Moscow lukewarm, insisted on Wednesday in Madrid that Russia and Ukraine have to negotiate peace and that “it is useless to say who is right” in the war they are waging.

“Nobody can have any doubt that we Brazilians condemn Russia’s territorial violation against Ukraine. The mistake happened, the war started,” said Lula, who recently visited Portugal.

The statement was made at a press conference, together with the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, during his two-day visit to Spain.

He also stated that “there is no one who says peace, except me, who shouts peace as if I were alone in the desert.”

Also, when asked who owns the regions annexed by Russia in Crimea and Donbas, Lula replied that it was not up to him to decide.

“It is not up to me to decide whose Crimea is (…) Those who are going to discuss that are the Russians and the Ukrainians,” said Lula, who had recently suggested that Kiev give up this territory to facilitate peace, irritating the ukrainians.

Sánchez, for his part, asked to keep in mind that the conflict started with the Russian invasion, in February 2022.

“In this war, there is an aggressor and there is a victim: the aggressor is [el presidente ruso, Vladimir] Putin and the attacked, in this case, is a people that the only thing it does is fight for territorial integrity, for its national sovereignty and for its freedom,” said Sánchez.

Lula, who intends to restore international prominence to Brazil after the Bolsonaro government, has as a strategic focus being a peace mediator in Ukraine, especially after holding a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping ten days ago.

He had previously declared that the responsibilities for the war unleashed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine were shared. So the United States was quick to accuse him of “echoing Russian and Chinese propaganda”, while Ukraine encouraged him to visit the country to understand “the real causes and essence” of the war.

Opportunity for the EU-Mercosur agreement

Madrid and Brasilia hope to take advantage of the fact that they will hold the presidencies of the EU and Mercosur in 2023, respectively, to close once and for all the trade agreement between the two blocs, paralyzed since 2019 due to resistance from some European countries.

“As you know, Brazil is going to preside over Mercosur in the second half of this year, coinciding with the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union,” Sánchez recalled.

“I think this coincidence of both presidencies represents an extraordinary opportunity to try to materialize our rapprochement,” added the Spanish leader, recalling that Spain “maintains a firm commitment to advance in the ratification of this important trade agreement.”

With the Spanish presidency of the EU, which starts on July 1, “we may have the possibility of closing this agreement,” he added.

“Someone has to close it,” declared Lula, to whom King Felipe VI offered an honorary lunch at the Zarzuela palace.

Background and doubts

In 2019, an agreement was reached between the EU and Mercosur after more than 20 years of difficult negotiations. However, it was not ratified, partly due to concerns in Europe over the environmental policies of far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

The tone has changed with the return to power of the leftist Lula and, earlier this year, the vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, said that the EU hoped to sign the agreement during 2023.

However, several European countries, mainly France, remain reluctant, and French President Emmanuel Macron warned in late February that the agreement “would not be possible” if the Mercosur countries did not respect the same environmental constraints as the Europeans.

European farmers fear more South American agricultural products will enter the market, claiming they have less stringent production standards. For example, unlike the EU, Brazil has not banned antibiotic growth promoters in animal feed.