The attempt by members of the Brazilian government to hide the participation of senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA) in the meeting between Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and Volodymyr Zelensky exposed disagreements around the Brazilian president on how to deal with the war in Ukraine, in addition to power disputes over Brazilian foreign policy.
At Lula’s request, Wagner organized the meeting and announced on Sunday that it would take place.
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Before the summit meeting in New York on Wednesday (20), the senator published on his page on the X network (formerly Twitter): “I will be present at the meeting and I believe that the objective of everyone, even those directly involved in the war , is to find the path to peace as soon as possible.”
The message contrasted with what Lula has been saying since he gave an interview to the American magazine Time in May last year, when he stated that Zelensky “wanted war”, and used it to “appear on TV”.
Celso Amorim did not know about the meeting until it was announced by Wagner.
The special advisor tried to belittle her by saying that “the important thing” was the meeting between Lula and Biden, and even casting doubt on whether the meeting would actually take place: “These things are unpredictable”, he said with an enigmatic smile.
Shortly before the meeting, the correspondent from CNN in New York, Mariana Janjácomo, asked the senator if he would participate. Wagner replied no. The journalist asked him why, and he didn’t answer.
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“Error”
The Social Communication Secretariat (Secom) of Palácio do Planalto sent journalists a list of participants.
It included Celso Amorim, Chancellor Mauro Vieira and the chief minister of Secom, Paulo Pimenta. However, later, the photo and video of the meeting showed Wagner practically at the end of the row of chairs.
Questioned by CNN , a Secom advisor said it had been her “mistake” and released a new list including Wagner. It could be an unimportant oversight if it weren’t for the background of this story.
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Wagner and the USA
Over the past year, Lula, still a candidate, tasked Wagner several times with talking, in person and over the phone, with important members of the American government, such as the National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, and Climate Envoy, John Kerry, both very close to President Joe Biden.
The objective was to communicate Lula’s desire to get closer to the United States.
Wagner was sent to Washington again last October, in the month of the election, with the same mission.
During the transition, he was considered for the Itamaraty or the Ministry of Defense. But Lula concluded that she could not give up her role as government leader in the Senate, and named Amorim special advisor.
Amorim, in turn, appointed Mauro Vieira to the position of chancellor, who worked with him in the past and is completely trusted.
Amorim is an old acquaintance of Biden’s team, the same team that advised him on foreign and national security policy when he was Barack Obama’s vice president (2009-2017).
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Sources who worked with this team perceive little sympathy from Amorim for the United States. His motto, “proud and active foreign policy”, is directed above all against what he considers the risk of submission to the USA.
Sympathy for Russia
For similar ideological reasons, say interlocutors, Amorim has sympathy for Russia, and has publicly warned of the risk of “repeating Versailles”, the First World War peace treaty that imposed harsh sanctions against Germany, and which would have contributed to creating the environment favorable to the emergence of Nazism.
Amorim visited the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, at the end of March, in Moscow, and refused to do the same with Zelensky in Kiev: “I watch the war on TV”.
In Moscow, he arranged the arrival of the Russian Chancellor, Sergey Lavrov, on April 17th.
Then, Lula traveled to Portugal and Spain. His European interlocutors told him that his government was not considered equidistant between Russia and Ukraine, and that one proof of this was that he only listened to the Russian side.
Upon hearing this, the ministers of the Civil House, Rui Costa, and the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Márcio Macêdo, insisted to Lula that it was necessary to send Amorim immediately to Kiev, if possible directly from Madrid. Amorim refused, claiming that he was articulating an initiative with the French government, which did not materialize.
In early April, the advisor finally went to Kiev, where he was coldly received by Zelensky, who at that point was already aware of his influence on Lula’s sympathetic position towards Putin. It was then that Lula selected Wagner for this mission.
Pimenta, the head of Secom — who omitted the senator’s participation — would share Amorim’s pro-Russian feelings.
Affinity
Even after the meeting, Lula’s affinity with Putin was still alive in the minds of Ukrainians.
Upon leaving the one hour and ten minute meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba changed Lula’s name to Putin’s before quickly correcting himself. And he said the meeting had been an “icebreaker”, adding: “Not that there was ice before”.
Often the truth lies in what is omitted or said unintentionally.
VIDEO – Zelensky’s Chancellor calls Lula Putin after meeting
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
