Xi hosts Lula in diplomatic push for Ukraine ceasefire

BLOOMBERG

Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrives in China as President Xi Jinping seeks to build momentum for talks to halt fighting in Ukraine more than a year after Russia’s invasion.
Lula’s trip to Shanghai and Beijing comes as Xi embarks on a round of diplomacy in the weeks after visiting Moscow, where he strengthened political ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin even while touting Beijing’s vague blueprint for peace that included a call for a ceasefire in Ukraine. The Chinese leader hosted French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss the effort.
Xi has managed to cultivate his image while still threatening Taiwan, including by holding extensive military drills after President Tsai Ing-wen met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Brazilian leader has also sought a larger role in global efforts to end the war in Ukraine, a dynamic that will likely make it a key theme of his bilateral meeting with Xi. Lula supports most of China’s plan to end the conflict, including the ceasefire, Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira told a small group of reporters in Brasilia ahead of the trip.
“It is urgent that we end deaths, destruction and activities that are encouraging inflationary pressure in all countries,” Vieira said.
Still, Brazil’s president has reservations about China’s proposal to allow Russia to keep control of occupied Ukrainian territories, even as he remains skeptical of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“Putin can’t keep Ukrainian territory,” Lula told journalists in Brasilia. “Perhaps we’re not discussing Crimea, but what he has recently invaded needs to be reconsidered. But Zelenskiy can’t have everything he wishes either.”
China’s initiative has been dismissed outright by the US and some allies, who are wary of any process that would allow Russia to maintain its gains on the battlefield. Yet for Xi, the push for a ceasefire in Ukraine is also aimed at countering US attempts to portray China as a threat to the international order.
During Macron’s visit, the French leader charted a different approach to the US’s tougher stance on Beijing. And the visit of Lula similarly helps consolidate China’s efforts to serve as a representative of developing economies that can provide an alternative to the US.
“It’s not just any visit — it’s Lula,” said Karin Vazquez, a non-resident fellow with think tank Center for China and Globalization, who is based in Shanghai. “He’s very respected as a global leader, and from the Chinese perspective indicates the relevance of Brazil and other emerging countries in the making of Xi’s ‘New Era.’”
Lula, who was forced to delay the trip in March due to a mild case of pneumonia, last year said Zelenskiy was “as responsible as Putin for the war.” More recently, he told a local TV channel that Brazil was “ready to make any effort to guarantee peace in the world.