Few world leaders can say they’ve been hugged by Xi Jinping, China’s typically reserved president. Last year, an embrace between Xi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, seemed to sum up the cosy – if at times slightly awkward – relationship between China and Russia. Now Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, can count himself among the hallowed few to have broken the handshake barrier with Chinese leader. Stepping off the stage after giving a speech in Beijing earlier this month, Lula shook Xi’s hand, but the moment swiftly…
Tag: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Putin defends invasion of Ukraine in Brics summit address
Vladimir Putin has defended Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sought to rally leaders of the Brics nations meeting in South Africa to the Kremlin’s side. In a prerecorded video message aired on Tuesday to the leaders of Brazil, India, China and South Africa, Putin repeated his earlier unfounded claims that the west was responsible for the war in Ukraine. “Our actions in Ukraine are dictated by only one thing – to end the war that was unleashed by the west and its satellites against the people who live in the…
Lavrov’s Brazil visit highlights Lula’s neutral foreign policy despite US dismay
Russia’s minister of foreign affairs, Sergei Lavrov, is due to arrive in Brasília on Monday for talks with his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, in the latest of a series of bilateral encounters likely to ruffle the US. Lavrov arrives just as Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, returns from a state visit to China, and both missions are part of a diplomatic reset Lula has pursued since returning to power this year, as he strives to recover Brazil’s international reputation after his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, dismantled Brazil’s established tradition…