American Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Brazilian President Lula on Wednesday of the United States’ “disagreement” with his controversial comments comparing the war in Gaza and the Holocaust, we learned from officials at the Department of State. State.
During his meeting Wednesday morning in Brasilia with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, there was a “frank exchange” and Mr. Blinken “brought up the subject of Gaza and made clear our disagreement with these remarks,” he said. said one of these officials on condition of anonymity to journalists accompanying the head of American diplomacy.
Lula on Sunday accused Israel, which benefits from the military and diplomatic support of the United States, of committing a “genocide” of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, comparing the Israeli offensive to the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis. The government of Israel was outraged by these remarks and declared him “persona non grata”.
On Tuesday, tension rose again. Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira accused his Israeli counterpart of “lies”. The head of Israeli diplomacy Israel Katz had earlier accused Lula of engaging in an “immoral, delusional” comparison between the war in the Gaza Strip and the Shoah.
The United States, which vetoed for the third time on Tuesday at the UN Security Council a text calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in this Palestinian territory, rejects the accusations of “genocide” brought against Israel.
It was a “very, very good meeting”, declared Mr. Blinken at the end of this interview, which lasted 1 hour 50 minutes according to the Brazilian presidency.
“The United States and Brazil do so many important things together. We work together in a bilateral, regional and global framework. It is a very important partnership and we are grateful to Brazil,” he added to the press, before leaving for Rio de Janeiro, for the G20 foreign ministers meeting.
Ukraine too
Lula, for his part, published on X (formerly Twitter), a photo of himself alongside Mr. Blinken, the two men smiling and exchanging a handshake.
“President Lula reaffirmed his desire for peace and an end to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. The two men agree on the creation of a Palestinian state,” reported the Brazilian presidency in a press release.
The head of the American State Department clarified that the discussion on Ukraine had focused on “the possibility that there is room for diplomacy” in the resolution of this conflict. “We consider that the conditions are not yet met at this time,” he added.
Lula has called for dialogue to end the conflict in Ukraine and has believed in the past that the blame was shared between Vladimir Putin’s Russia on the one hand, and the West and kyiv on the other.
The Brazilian president and the American secretary of state also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as Venezuela, engaged in a border dispute with Guyana around the oil-rich Essequibo region.
One State Department official praised Brazil’s efforts to “attempt to reduce tensions between Venezuela and Guyana.” »
This article is originally published on lorientlejour.com
