President Iohannis in Brazil, tells Lula da Silva: Ukraine is the victim, it must secure international support

During his visit to Brazil, President Klaus Iohannis reiterated that Russia is the aggressor state and that Ukraine must be supported at the international level. After the talks with Iohannis, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who sparked controversy among Ukraine’s allies after urging the United States to “stop encouraging” the war in Ukraine, changed his statements and said that his government respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine, although he also previously suggested that the Ukrainians should give up Crimea to end the war.

The Romanian president pointed out that Romania’s message, as a neighboring state with the longest border with Ukraine, is clear, strong and must be understood by its partners, namely the fact that no matter how Moscow tries to justify its actions, Russia is an aggressor state.

“We presented to the president our vision regarding the security situation at the border of Romania and the war of aggression launched by Russia against Ukraine. Romania’s message, as a neighboring state and with the longest border among the European Union and NATO states with Ukraine, is clear, strong and must be understood by our partners: no matter how Moscow tries to justify its actions, Russia is an aggressor state, which forcibly violated the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and tried to annul its independence, also violating the UN Charter. Ukraine is the victim of Russian aggression. All the negative effects of this global aggression are the direct consequence of his action, contrary to international law. The international community has the duty to support Ukraine to reject aggression and to win this war for the liberation of the country“, said Klaus Iohannis.

The Romanian head of state emphasized that Romania will continue “unfailingly” to support Ukraine, arguing that any support for the security of this country is, in fact, support for the security of Romania and its citizens. Iohannis also presented to his Brazilian counterpart the consequences of the war in multiple ways, from the refugee situation to the energy or food crisis.

“Against the background of the global food crisis generated by the war, Romania and Brazil, agricultural producers and food suppliers, have become important contributors to food security”, he added.

Following the talks with Iohannis, President Lula da Silva changed his statements and said that his Government condemns the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and indicated that it supports a negotiated political solution to the war in this country. “At the same time that my government respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine, we protect the political negotiations, the negotiation of the conflict. The effect of the war goes beyond the European continent and that is why I am concerned about its global consequences, especially in terms of food, economic and energy security. We need to create a group of countries that will sit down and talk with Russia to find solutions,” said Lula da Silva.

Earlier, the Brazilian president suggested that Ukraine should cede the Crimea Peninsula to Russia to end the war, saying that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “can’t want everything”, according to AFP. Putin, “cannot occupy the territory of Ukraine. Maybe we’ll talk about Crimea. But he has to think about what he invaded in addition“, said Lula da Silva during a meeting with journalists in Brasilia.

Two days ago, during a press conference in Abu Dhabi, after official visits to the Emirates and China, Lula da Silva accused the USA and Europe of prolonging the conflict in Ukraine. The war was caused by “decisions made by both countries”, the Brazilian president said. “Putin is not taking any initiative to stop the war. Zelensky from Ukraine is not taking any initiative to stop the war,” said the Brazilian president. “Europe and the USA continue to contribute to the continuation of the war. Under the conditions in which they have to sit around the table and say: “Enough”,  Lula da Silva used to say.

President Klaus Iohannis is on a tour of Latin America until April 26. On Wednesday, on the second day of his official visit to the Republic of Brazil, the first at the head of state level in the last 23 years, he will meet with the local authorities in Rio de Janeiro. After Brazil, the next stages of the South American tour carried out by the head of state are the official visits to the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Argentina, the first of this level in the last ten years, respectively in the last 30 years.