Brazil's Lula pledges to urge Putin 'go to Istanbul and negotiate' with Zelenskyy

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Wednesday he will urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend possible peace talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, amid mounting suspense over whether the Russian leader would take part in the proposed meeting in Turkey.

Putin proposed restarting direct talks “without preconditions” on Thursday in Istanbul about the more than three-year war. Zelenskyy then challenged the Kremlin leader to meet in Turkey in person.

Lula has maintained close ties with Putin despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — a position that has caused tensions with the Kyiv government and raised eyebrows in the West.

Lula was traveling to Moscow on Wednesday, where he was due to stop over on his way back to Brazil from an official state visit in China.

“When I get to Moscow, I’m going to try to talk to Putin. It won’t cost me anything to say, ‘Hey comrade Putin, go to Istanbul and negotiate,’” Lula told journalists in Beijing.

The Kremlin has refused to confirm who’s going to Turkey and whether it will include Putin. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelenskyy will sit at the table only with the Russian leader.

The possible meeting between the two presidents has raised hopes that recent intensified pressure by the U.S. and Western European leaders to halt the fighting could pay dividends. Those countries have threatened Russia with further sanctions if there is no progress.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other American officials are due to be in Turkey for the talks.

Lula has repeatedly called for peace talks between the two countries. In May 2024, China and Brazil issued a joint peace plan that called for a peace conference with Russia and Ukraine and no expansion of the battlefield, but the plan was dismissed by Zelenskyy.

On Tuesday, Brazil and China released a joint statement welcoming possible talks. “The governments of Brazil and China hope that a direct dialogue between the parties can begin as soon as possible, as this is the only way to put an end to the conflict,” a statement published by Brazil’s foreign affairs ministry said.

Russia's state news agency, RIA Novosti, reported Wednesday that a Brazilian “special flight” landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, which has a terminal where foreign dignitaries usually land.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn’t confirm or deny reports that Lula might meet with Putin, saying only that the Kremlin will inform the public if the two indeed meet.

Russian forces have been readying a fresh military offensive to maximize pressure on Ukraine and strengthen the Kremlin’s negotiating position in talks, Ukrainian government and military analysts say.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said Tuesday that Russia is “attempting to prolong negotiations to extract additional concessions from the United States and while making additional battlefield advances.”

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Eléonore Hughes in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine