Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced that he would call on Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey during peace talks on the war in Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
Lula joined the appeals of many other countries for the Russian leader to personally go to Istanbul for direct negotiations with Kiev.
"I will try to talk to Putin", Lula said at a press conference in Beijing, before a planned stop in Moscow, on his way back to Brazil. "Nothing prevents me from telling him: "Hey, friend Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate, for God's sake," he added.
The talks in Istanbul tomorrow will be the first direct talks between Ukraine and Russia since the spring of 2022.
Lula made his comment after being asked by Kiev for Brazil to use its influence over Moscow to secure a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.
For their part, China and Brazil issued a joint statement yesterday welcoming "Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to start peace talks" with Ukraine.
In the text, the two sides describe direct dialogue as "the only way to end the conflict", the Chinese news agency reported.
Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his American counterpart Donald Trump to visit Turkey and take part in the negotiations, but later announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would travel to Istanbul.
The Kremlin has not yet announced whether President Vladimir Putin will join the talks, only announcing that a Russian delegation will attend.