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Bloomberg: Macron seeking to convince Lula on Ukraine during Brazil trip

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Bloomberg: Macron seeking to convince Lula on Ukraine during Brazil trip
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the media at the end of an EU Summit in the Justus Lipsius building, the EU Council headquarters on March 22, 2024, in Brussels, Belgium. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to convince his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to support Ukraine during his trip to Brazil, Bloomberg reported on March 26.

Macron begins a three-day trip to Brazil on March 26, marking the first time a French president has visited the country in 11 years.

"High on his agenda will be an attempt to convince Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to take a stand on the war," Bloomberg reported.

"The French leader is betting that his differences with Lula over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can be narrowed," Bloomberg said, citing unnamed French officials.

While Macron recently established himself as one of the most outspoken supporters of Ukraine, Lula has long tried to position himself as a mediator in the conflict and Brazil as a neutral party.

Bloomberg highlighted that Lula has repeatedly rejected arming Ukraine and "considers that the two sides share the blame for the war."

Lula reportedly declined a request from President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet in Argentina in December 2023, as both leaders were attending the inauguration of Javier Milei, Argentina's new president.

Zelensky and Lula last met on Sept. 20, 2023 in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

During a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in January 2023, Lula said that Russia made a mistake invading Ukraine but refused to condemn the full-scale invasion.

Months later, Lula suggested that Ukraine should be open to the idea of giving up Crimea in exchange for peace with Russia.

French minister: Paris to soon deliver 78 Caesar howitzers, increase shell supplies to Ukraine
France will soon be able to supply Ukraine with 78 Caesar howitzers and has boosted its production of artillery rounds to meet Kyiv’s most urgent needs, the Associated Press (AP) reported on March 26, citing French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
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U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks come after the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing undisclosed sources, that he asked President Volodymyr Zelensky whether Kyiv could strike Moscow or St Petersburg if provided with long-range U.S. weapons.

"The stolen data includes confidential questionnaires of the company's employees, and most importantly, full technical documentation on the production of drones, which was handed over to the relevant specialists of the Ukrainian Defense Forces," a source in Ukraine's military intelligence told the Kyiv Independent.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called upon the EU to take action against Ukraine's conscription practices in an interview with Origo published on July 15, amid an ongoing dispute with Kyiv over the death of a Ukrainian conscript of Hungarian ethnicity.

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