U.S. ambassador tells Brazil that peace negotiations cannot be “based on rewarding Russia”

Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Celso Amorim in Brasília. Photo: Vitor Vasconcelos/PR

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, on Thursday said the U.S. is “disappointed” with the Brazilian government about recent declarations on the Russia-Ukraine war, and stressed that peace discussions cannot be “based on rewarding Russia.”

“I did express our disappointment in the statements that were made regarding Ukraine,” Ms. Thomas-Greenfield said at a press conference in the U.S. Embassy in Brasília, after a meeting with Celso Amorim, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s top foreign policy advisor and former foreign minister.

“As part of that discussion, I have encouraged Brazilians, including Special Advisor Amorim, to go to Ukraine. It’s important that any efforts at negotiation include Ukraine in those discussions,” she said.

The ambassador added that Mr. Amorim told her he does have plans to go to Ukraine, but did not announce a set date for that to happen.

“We are not telling Brazil not to engage in peace. What we have said is that any engagement has to take Ukraine into account, and it cannot be a negotiation based on rewarding Russia for taking Ukrainian territory during their unprovoked war.”

Lula has come under fire from both the Brazilian press and foreign observers for recent statements on the Russia-Ukraine war. Back in April, he said that “the two countries” decided to go to war. Days later, during a trip to Spain, Lula said it was “not up to him” to decide whom Crimea and the Donbass regions belong to, and that the matter should be “discussed by Russians and Ukrainians.”

Lula has contradicted himself numerous times regarding the war, but has more often echoed Moscow’s talking points. In a speech to the Portuguese Parliament, Lula condemned the “violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” but without naming Russia.

John Kirby, spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, accused Lula of “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts”.

Back in March, Mr. Amorim made a trip to Moscow, which was not made public until after his return. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later visited Brasília and thanked Brazil for what he called its “contribution” to solving the war in Ukraine.

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield also had optimistic remarks about the future of the bilateral relationship. During her three-day visit to Brazil, she said, “we discussed how Brazil is back and how the U.S. has Brazil’s back” – a reference to a Lula speech from late last year on how Brazil would “return to build a peaceful world order based on dialogue” and to tackle climate change.

Since Lula’s inauguration on January 1, several high-level U.S. officials have visited Brazil, including U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, and Jose W. Fernandez, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment.