Last week, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attended a meeting of the G7, marking the return of a Brazilian president to the summit of the group of leaders of the world’s major industrial democracies, after a 14-year hiatus.
While Lula’s G7 participation marks a gain in prestige for Brazilian diplomacy after four tumultuous years under far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, it also showed how quickly the president’s honeymoon with the West has ended.
As the G7 deepened its commitments to aiding Ukraine expel Russian troops from its territory, Lula’s rhetoric on the conflict seemed tone-deaf in comparison. Being stood up by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky epitomized how much Brazil and its traditional Western allies are not on the same page regarding the war.
While Lula had an intense schedule of bilateral meetings, the Zelensky debacle — which Lula said left him “upset” — ended up being the enduring image of his trip...
Search
