Oliver Towfigh Nia
31 January 2023•Update: 31 January 2023
BERLIN
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rejected Germany's request for delivery of ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft tank used by Ukraine, according to local media reports Tuesday.
“Brazil is a land of peace. And that's why Brazil doesn't want any involvement in this war - not even indirectly," said Lula at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Brasilia, the BILD reported.
Kyiv urgently needs additional ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft tank delivered from Germany and Brazil has reportedly up to 300,000 rounds of this kind of ammunition.
Lula also called for jump-starting peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, saying it is necessary "to form a group of countries that is strong enough and respected and sits down with the two at a negotiating table.”
Lula named Brazil and China as possible mediators in the peace talks.
The Brazilian leader’s statement on peace talks is in contrast to the remarks by German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has repeatedly stated that peace negotiations could only begin once Russian troops withdraw from Ukraine.
Scholz has also stressed that there could be no peace over the heads of Ukrainians and that the country must not lose any territory as a result of this war.
Scholz said over the weekend that he wanted to continue trying to work towards an end to the war against Ukraine through direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I'll be on the phone with Putin again - because we need to talk to each other," Scholz told the Berlin-based Tagesspiegel newspaper.
"It's up to Putin to withdraw troops from Ukraine and end this terrible, senseless war end that has already cost the lives of hundreds of thousands." he added.
Scholz made clear that as long as Russia continues the war with undiminished aggression, the current situation would not change.
Although the phone calls with Putin were "not impolite in tone," the Russian leader made it clear again and again that he wanted "to incorporate parts of his neighboring country by force", which was "unacceptable," for the German leader.
"Sometimes there were also specific questions about the exchange of prisoners, grain exports from Ukraine and the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant- But it's important to me that the talks always come back to the actual topic: How is the world getting out of this terrible situation? The prerequisite for this is clear: the withdrawal of Russian troops,” he added.
