Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (2019- ) has decided that insulting and showing disrespect to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil (2003-2010 and 2023- ) is a productive strategy for expanding the list of countries who provide commercial, economic, financial, humanitarian, military, and political support to the public sector and private sector in Ukraine.

This comedic episode reinforces a perception that President Zelensky can never be satisfied and that unless a country government provides everything he wants, that the government (and its taxpayers) are candidates for ridicule.

To remind, Brazil is the ninth-largest economy by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and seventh-largest in population.

“Zelenskiy plays down not meeting Brazil's Lula at G7 summit, blames scheduling

21 May 2023 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy played down the fact he did not meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Japan on Sunday and said it was likely because of scheduling.

Asked if he was disappointed the meeting did not happen, he told a news conference he thought it was more of a disappointment for the Brazilian leader.

• "I think it disappointed him," he said, smirking and drawing laughs from reporters.

Zelenskiy met an array of world leaders on the sidelines of the summit in the city of Hiroshima over the weekend on a trip seen as part of a push to court the "Global South" as Kyiv fends off Russia's full-scale invasion.”

22 May 2023 (Reuters) - “Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday a meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Japan fell through because Zelenskiy was late.  "I had an interview, a bilateral one with Ukraine here in this room at 3:15 p.m. We waited and received the information that he was late," Lula said.  Zelenskiy "did not show up ... Clearly he had appointments and he couldn't come," Lula said.  Zelenskiy had earlier played down the fact he did not meet with Lula.”

22 May 2023 (The Star)- “On Sunday, the Financial Times reported that French President Emmanuel Macron had personally asked Lula to meet with Zelenskyy at the summit. Zelensky, in turn, said that it was the Brazilian president who should be disappointed that the meeting did not take place. "A bilateral meeting with Ukraine was scheduled in this hall. We waited and received information that they [the Ukrainian side] were running late. In the meantime, I received the Vietnamese president. When he left, Ukraine did not show up. He [Zelenskyy] definitely had another meeting ... I was not disappointed, I was upset because I wanted to meet him... Zelenskyy is an adult and knows what he is doing," Lula said at a press conference following the summit on Sunday.”

UPDATE:

Zelensky says wants to meet Brazil’s Lula: “We need to talk”  President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine says he is interested in meeting with the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

• 3 June 2023: The statement came in an interview with Latin American mass media, an Ukrinform [Government of Ukraine] correspondent reports.  "It is not the first time that I publicly - and not publicly, through someone, through the media and directly to President Lula – say, and I can once again confirm, that I’m interested in meeting with President Lula. I am interested to have that meeting. I offered any format. I invited the president several times, I invited him to visit Ukraine. We got in touch with President Lula's team when he had meetings in Spain and Portugal, when he was in Europe. I wanted to use that opportunity because the distance is shorter and I want him to find time. Then I had various meetings at the G7, and someone even claimed that we did not find (time to meet - ed.) ... this is nonsense. There’s no point to listen to someone claiming such things – there can’t be serious and they can’t stick to the subject. I am interested in meeting President Lula. And I believe we need to talk," Zelensky said.  As the head of the Ukrainian state noted, he needs "as many countries as possible to support Ukraine or not to support Russia in this situation if they aren’t ready to back Ukraine, unfortunately." 

• "It is very important for me that people understand all the details of what’s happening. For me, it is very important that the big powers are involved. Brazil is a large state in Latin America – in terms of its actual size and strength. And (I want that – ed.) Brazil is also represented at the peace formula summit on par with other states. There may be different views on this or that security block, on this or that direction of the peace formula. We are in dialogue, we are civilized people, and we need to talk about it, and in order to have this talk, we need to be willing to do that. I have offered to meet with the president many times. I think he will find an opportunity. Something didn't work out at the G7... But it definitely wasn’t on our side," Zelensky noted.  Earlier, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized Russia's invasion of Ukraine while saying he was trying to remain "neutral" to be able to mediate potential peace talks.

References

4 May 2023: Rio de Janeiro (AFP)- “Brazilian presidential front-runner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin bear equal responsibility for the war in Ukraine, putting the leftist icon at odds with Western powers. "I see the president of Ukraine, speaking on television, being applauded, getting a standing ovation by all the (European) parliamentarians," Lula, Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010, told Time magazine, which published a story Wednesday on his bid to stage a presidential come-back in elections against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.  "This guy (Zelensky) is as responsible as Putin for the war," he added.

The remarks will likely raise eyebrows in the US and Europe, which are supplying military support to Ukraine and have hit Russia with punishing sanctions over an invasion widely seen in the West as an act of unprovoked Russian aggression.  Lula, 76, said Zelensky should have yielded to Russian opposition to Ukraine's moves to join NATO and held negotiations with Putin to avoid a conflict.  Referencing Zelensky's rise to fame as an actor and comedian, he added: "We should be having a serious conversation. OK, you were a nice comedian. But let us not make war for you to show up on TV."  He also had criticism for US President Joe Biden.

"Biden could have taken a plane to Moscow to talk to Putin. This is the kind of attitude you expect from a leader," he said.  Lula, who leads Bolsonaro in the polls for October's elections, was a key player on the international stage during his two terms as president, building Brazil's diplomatic clout.  Portraying himself as a bridge-builder, he maintained friendly ties with counterparts as disparate as George W. Bush of the US and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.”

4 May 2022: London (The Guardian)- Brazil’s ex-president Lula claims Zelenskiy equally to blame for war.  Lula, who is leading President Bolsonaro in polls, also said Biden and EU are guilty and could have stated Ukraine would not join NATO.  Brazilian presidential frontrunner Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, bear equal responsibility for the war in Ukraine, putting the leftist icon at odds with western powers.

In an interview with Time magazine published on Wednesday, the former president said it was irresponsible for western leaders to celebrate Zelenskiy because they are encouraging war instead of focusing on closed-door negotiations to stop the fighting.  “I see the president of Ukraine, speaking on television, being applauded, getting a standing ovation by all the [European] parliamentarians,” Lula told the magazine.  “This guy [Zelenskiy] is as responsible as Putin for the war,” he added.

Lula, who is on Time’s cover this week, is frontrunner for the October elections when he hopes to deny far-right President Jair Bolsonaro re-election and return to office after the annulment last year of corruption convictions that had put him in jail.  The remarks will probably raise eyebrows in the US and Europe, which are supplying military support to Ukraine and have hit Russia with punishing sanctions over an invasion widely seen in the west as an act of unprovoked Russian aggression.  Lula, 76, said Zelenskiy should have yielded to Russian opposition to Ukraine’s moves to join NATO and held negotiations with Putin to avoid a conflict.  Refering to Zelenskiy’s rise to fame as an actor and comedian, he added: “We should be having a serious conversation. OK, you were a nice comedian. But let us not make war for you to show up on TV.”  The veteran leftist said Biden and European Union leaders failed to do enough to negotiate with Russia in the run-up to its invasion of Ukraine in February.

“The United States has a lot of political clout. And Biden could have avoided war, not incited it,” he said. “Biden could have taken a plane to Moscow to talk to Putin. This is the kind of attitude you expect from a leader.”  The US and EU could have avoided the invasion by stating that Ukraine would not join Nato, he said.  “Putin shouldn’t have invaded Ukraine. But it’s not just Putin who is guilty. The US and the EU are also guilty,” Lula said.  Lula, who leads Bolsonaro in the polls for October’s elections, was a key player on the international stage during his two terms as president, building Brazil’s diplomatic clout.  Portraying himself as a bridge-builder, he maintained friendly ties with counterparts as disparate as George W Bush of the US and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.”