Brazil's Lula draws Russian praise, US scorn for Ukraine views
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00:00 All smiles in Brasilia, as Russia's foreign minister was welcomed by his Brazilian counterpart
00:05 Monday.
00:06 Beyond talks on energy and trade, Sergei Lavrov was particularly appreciative of his host's
00:12 take on Russia's war in Ukraine.
00:15 "We are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their excellent understanding of the genesis
00:21 of the situation.
00:23 We are grateful for the desire to contribute to the search for ways to resolve it."
00:30 The Brazilian stance, though, has not been met with such acceptance in other diplomatic
00:35 circles.
00:36 Fourteen months into a Russian invasion that has brought indiscriminate attacks on civilians
00:41 and illegal annexations of Ukrainian territory, President Lula da Silva last week appeared
00:46 to lay the blame not with the Kremlin, but with the U.S. and Europe for helping to support
00:51 Ukraine's defense.
00:53 "The United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace.
00:59 The European Union needs to start talking about peace."
01:03 Those comments quickly drew the ire of Washington, as White House National Security Council spokesman
01:08 John Kirby accused Lula of parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda.
01:14 Brazil's foreign minister pushed back on that criticism Monday night.
01:18 "No, in no way do I agree.
01:20 I don't know how or why he reached that conclusion, but I don't agree."
01:24 While refusing to join Western sanctions on Russia, Lula has called for a multinational
01:29 mediation group to help end the conflict.
01:33 Kiev says peace will only be possible when Russia withdraws its forces from all Ukrainian
01:39 territory.