Zelensky said Lula da Silva was still living in the Soviet Union, criticized Brazil’s stance on Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Brazilian President Lula da Silva of still living in the days of the Soviet Union and criticized the alliances the Brazilian government has made with undemocratic countries in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory two and a half years ago. Zelenskyy made the remarks in an interview with Brazilian presenter Luciano Juque, who has Ukrainian roots and came to Kyiv to interview him.

“I had a meeting (a few months ago, during the summit in New York) with President Lula, and we had a very good, really good dialogue. I am grateful for that, but he lives with stories about the Soviet Union. It is a shame. He thinks about Russia as if the Soviet Union still exists today,” the Ukrainian leader said, emphasizing his disappointment in his Brazilian counterpart, who made statements in favor of Russia, whose president Vladimir Putin is a friend.

In the interview, Volodymyr Zelensky added that Lula advertises the need for Brazil to remain neutral in the conflict, but later, he stressed, denies this neutrality by joining Russia’s allied countries. And countries, he stressed, that do not respect human rights and freedoms are dictatorships, not democracies like Brazil.

“Is China a democratic country? No. What about Iran, is it a democratic country? No. What about North Korea… They are not democratic countries. So what is Brazil, a great democratic country, doing? Will Brazil swallow up these four allies (Russia, China, Iran and North Korea) or will these four allies swallow up Brazil?” Zelensky said, referring in part to Brazil signing a letter from China that also signed? Iran and North Korea, among other countries, defend negotiations and diplomacy aimed at ending the war, but do not criticize Russia, the occupying country.