BRASILIA (Reuters) – Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte discussed the war in Ukraine on Tuesday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and said there should be no concessions that affect Ukrainian sovereignty.
Lula has been advocating the creation of a group of nations not involved in the war that can broker peace talks to end the conflict and has suggested concessions from both side.
Rutte, on a three-day visit to Brazil, laid out the European position regarding the need to defend Ukraine from Russian aggression.
“Netherlands will support Ukraine as long as necessary,” the prime minister said at a news conference after meeting with Lula.
The Brazilian leader insisted that peace talks were needed to stop the fighting, noting that Brazil voted for the United Nations resolution condemning the Russian invasion.
Lula said his foreign policy advisor Celso Amorim, who visited Moscow last month and met Russian leader Vladimir Putin, arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“Amorim will find out what Zelenskiy wants. He already knows what Putin wants,” Lula said. “Now is the time for diplomacy, not for war.”
Rutte is visiting Brazil accompanied by a business delegation for talks focusing on trade and cooperation for sustainable agriculture and the energy transition, especially hydrogen. He praised Brazil’s efforts fighting climate change.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Richard Chang)
