Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who recently offered Ukraine to give Crimea to Russia, arrived in Portugal on April 21, where he will have to explain his words, according to The Washington Post..

The arrival of the Brazilian president comes amid escalating tensions with the European Union, following Lula's criticism of Ukraine's support in its fight. His trip to Portugal is seen as an opportunity to repair some of the damage caused by his comments to relations between Brazil and the EU, Guilherme Casarins, a political scientist at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, told WP..

“This could be an important step for Lula to show that he is truly willing to adopt a position of balance or equidistance between the parties involved in the conflict, potentially allowing Brazil to play a mediating role in the medium term,” Casarins said..

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During her visit to Portugal, Lula is expected to push for the implementation of the agreement between the European Union and the South American economic bloc Mercosur.. It was signed in 2019, but has not yet entered into force, as not all EU countries and Mercosur have ratified the agreement.. Portugal is an ally of Brazil in the European Union and Lula wants her to be a platform to defend Brazil's position in the context of these negotiations.

After meeting in China with Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Lula said that the US should " The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry responded to Lule that he uses an approach in which the victim and the aggressor are placed on the same scale, and countries that help Ukraine defend against deadly aggression are accused of encouraging war.

Commenting on Lula's statements, US National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said that Brazil is repeating Russian propaganda, completely ignoring the facts..