According to Vieira, “there was never a proposal for a ‘peace club’, president [Lula] never proposed such a thing”.
Brazil’s president tells UN that Western groups are failing developing nations
Brazil’s president tells UN that Western groups are failing developing nations
“We only want to promote the possibility of discussing peace. Participating [in the negotiations] is another matter. If we are invited, we will be there, as we were in the Copenhagen process,” Vieira said, referring to the summit held in June in the Danish capital to discuss a way out of the war.
The foreign minister’s recent statements appear at odds with his earlier remarks, including an interview with the Financial Times in which Vieira not only acknowledged the “peace club” initiative but also noted “President Lula’s active efforts to assemble a coalition of countries” to spearhead peace talks.
This account, however, was not confirmed by Celso Amorim, a senior adviser to Lula on foreign policy, who said he would refrain from commenting on statements from undisclosed sources.
“What I can say is that China did not participate in the first meeting in Copenhagen organised by the United States with the Ukrainians. We participated and insisted that China should be present, and at the next meeting in Jeddah [in August], they were also there,” he said.
Despite the official refutation of a formal “peace club” proposition, Lula, speaking to reporters as he departed his New York hotel, reiterated his suggestion to Zelensky on assembling a cadre of “friendly countries” to craft a peace proposal, albeit this time without specifying any nations.
“Negotiating is much cheaper than war, there are no casualties, no deaths and no shootings,” Lula said.
The Chinese embassy in Washington could not immediately be reached to comment on claims that China refused to join the Brazilian initiative.