Barter deal with Moscow?
Kyiv comments on Lula’s mediation plan
4/7/2023 4:22 p.m
In a kind of perpetrator-victim reversal, Brazilian President Lula declares that the President of Ukraine, Zelensky, “cannot get everything.” To start peace talks, Ukraine should give up Crimea annexed by Russia. The answer from Kyiv comes quickly.
Kiev has rejected a proposal by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to give up Crimea in exchange for peace with Russia. “There is no legal, political or moral reason that would justify us giving up even an inch of Ukrainian soil,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.
“All mediation efforts to restore peace in Ukraine should be based on respect for sovereignty and full restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” he added. Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Lula said on Thursday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “can’t get everything”. Brazil’s leader suggested Ukraine could give up Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, to start peace talks. Crimea belonged to Ukraine for decades, and its annexation by Russia is not recognized under international law.
According to Lula, a group of countries will soon mediate between the warring factions. However, Russia has repeatedly stated that peace talks are out of the question at this point in time, or have set conditions that would amount to a de facto surrender by Ukraine.
Lavrov calls for “new world order” before negotiations
Also this Friday, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made a demand that is difficult to meet. During a visit to Turkey, he said negotiations would only be possible if they included the creation of a “new world order” without US dominance. Negotiations must be based on taking Russian interests into account. “It’s about the principles on which the new world order will be based.”
China’s head of state Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron recently called for peace talks in Ukraine. The goal is “to resume talks as quickly as possible for a lasting peace,” Macron said after a bilateral meeting in Beijing on Thursday. At a joint press event, Xi stressed that nuclear weapons “cannot be used”.