Brazil’s Lula pledges to urge Putin ‘go to Istanbul and negotiate’ with Zelenskyy

Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Wednesday he will urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend possible peace talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, amid mounting suspense over whether the Russian leader would take part in the proposed meeting in Turkey.

Putin proposed restarting direct talks “without preconditions” on Thursday in Istanbul about the more than three-year war. Zelenskyy then challenged the Kremlin leader to meet in Turkey in person. Lula has maintained close ties with Putin despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — a position that has caused tensions with the Kyiv government and raised eyebrows in the West.

Lula was travelling to Moscow on Wednesday, where he was due to stop over on his way back to Brazil from an official state visit in China. “When I get to Moscow, I’m going to try to talk to Putin. It won’t cost me anything to say, Hey comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate,’” Lula told journalists in Beijing.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelenskyy will sit at the table only with the Russian leader.