Spain reminds Lula that lasting peace for Ukraine must respect its sovereignty

Spanish King Felipe VI told Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during his visit to Spain that lasting peace for Ukraine "must be based on respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity," El Mundo reported on April 26.

Lula has acknowledged Ukraine's right to defend itself against Russia but repeatedly favored diplomatic solutions over supplying defense aid. The Brazilian president sparked outrage with several of his comments regarding the war, saying in early April that Ukraine should be open to the idea of giving up Crimea to ensure peace with Russia.

After meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on April 15, Lula also said that the U.S. should stop "encouraging war" in Ukraine and "start talking about peace."

Lula's meeting with the king came after disagreements on the war in Ukraine with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during a joint press conference.

It is allegedly Lula's hope that Spain joins a coalition of countries that can help broker peace between Ukraine and Russia. However, Spain has not chosen a neutral stance as Brazil has, with the country supplying tanks and other weapons to Ukraine.

During the press conference, Sánchez thanked Lula for his peace plan, but added, “In this war, there is an aggressor and a victim, and the aggressor is Putin," according to ABC News.

Lula said "there is no doubt" that Brazil condemned "Russia's violation of Ukraine’s rights with the invasion, but it is of no use to say who is right or wrong. The war must be stopped," ABC News wrote.

Editorial: Arming Ukraine won’t escalate war. Reluctance to do so will

First it was the tanks, now it’s the fighter jets. As Ukraine braces for another possible major Russian offensive in the upcoming weeks, Western leaders are yet again coming up with a variety of excuses why this time, they cannot justify supplying F-16 and F-35 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent