Brazil’s Lula in Portugal amid Ukraine remarks controversy

By HELENA ALVES
Associated Press

LISBON (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has arrived in Portugal amid heightened tensions with the European Union over his position on the war in Ukraine. Lula said last weekend while traveling in the United Arab Emirates and China that both Ukraine and Russia had decided to go to war, and that the U.S. was “stimulating” the fighting. He previously irked Ukraine, the U.S. and the EU by suggesting that Ukraine cede Crimea to Russia to end the current conflict. A political scientist at a think tank in Sao Paulo says Lula’s trip that starts Friday is an opportunity to repair some of the damage to Brazil-EU relations his comments caused.