The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, invited President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to visit the Eastern European country and discuss proposals to end the war in Ukraine.
Known as “Europe’s last dictator”, Lukashenko has controlled the country with an iron fist since 1994, arresting and torturing opponents. He is also accused of having rigged several elections and a referendum to change the constitution.
Lukashenko’s invitation was conveyed by his Foreign Minister, Sergei Aleinik, to Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, during a bilateral meeting on Friday in New York, on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
A note from the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the two foreign ministers agreed on the need to find a diplomatic solution between Russia and Ukraine.
A CNN found that Belarus considers that Brazil can play a very important role in such negotiations.
President Lula has proposed the creation of a group of countries with no direct relationship with the war to mediate and propose solutions to the conflict.
Lula mentioned the so-called “peace group” during a bilateral meeting this week with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, also in New York.
The criteria proposed by Lula for the formation of the group, however, would exclude Belarus, as the country was used as a platform for the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops in February 2022.
In June this year, Russia sent nuclear weapons to the country and Lukashenko even said he would use them if he was attacked by Ukrainian forces. Nuclear weapons stationed on Belarusian territory, however, remain under the control of the Russian military.
In addition to all this, the Minsk regime was one of the few to vote against UN resolutions that condemned the invasion of Ukraine – alongside other dictatorships such as Syria, Nicaragua and North Korea, and Russia itself.
Last week, Lukashenko met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and proposed the creation of a strategic alliance between the two countries and North Korea.
At the meeting in New York, Mauro Vieira and Sergei Aleinik also talked about increasing trade relations between the two nations.
Brazil recorded a trade balance deficit with the European country of US$366 million in 2022. Belarus is one of the major suppliers of fertilizers and chemical fertilizers for Brazilian agribusiness.
Lukashenko has already visited Brazil in March 2010, when he was received by Lula in Rio de Janeiro.
Source: CNN Brasil
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