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Brazil’s Lula to Putin: “Hey, Comrade Putin, Go to Istanbul and Negotiate, for God’s Sake!”

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Amira Barkhush
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Brazil’s Lula to Putin: “Hey, Comrade Putin, Go to Istanbul and Negotiate, for God’s Sake!”
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attends a joint press conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 13, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)

Brazilian President Lula da Silva said on May 14 that he would personally urge Vladimir Putin to join peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Türkiye.

This was reported by Ouest-France and Agence France-Presse, citing Lula during a press conference in Beijing, China.

“I’m going to try to talk to Putin. It doesn’t cost me anything to tell him: Hey, comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate, for God’s sake!” Lula said.

Talks scheduled for May 15 in Istanbul could mark the first direct negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow since 2022.

Brazilian President Lula’s remarks came shortly after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on Brazil to leverage its influence over Russia to help secure a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Lula positioned Brazil as a neutral mediator while maintaining strategic ties with both Moscow and Kyiv.

Lula has maintained diplomatic relations with Russia, attending events such as the Victory Day parade in Moscow and discussing strategic partnerships. He described the trip as part of broader efforts to strengthen multilateral ties and to mediate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

On May 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced plans to travel to Türkiye for peace talks on May 15, expressing hope that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would attend.

On May 12, the Kremlin rejected Zelenskyy’s proposal to hold direct talks with Putin in Istanbul on May 15, with top Russian officials denouncing the idea as political theater and insisting Moscow will not engage under any form of pressure.

Despite earlier dismissals, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later confirmed that a Russian delegation will attend the talks in Istanbul on May 15, though he did not specify who would represent Moscow.

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