Despite the recent setback at the G7 Summit, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva does not give up its intention to mediate to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. The issue was the focus of the visit that the Brazilian president made this Wednesday to the Pope Franciscowho during the four years of Jair Bolsonaro’s government ignored the head of state of the greatest power in Latin America.
“We are in times of war and peace is very fragile, I am going to give him what we do here, in our workshops,” the Pope said before the 45-minute audience as he presented Lula with a gift. “It is a very weak flower that says ‘peace is a fragile flower,'” added the Argentine pontiff.
The Pope’s gift to Lula was not accidental. Peace in Ukraine is an obsession that both sharealthough the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, has shown clear signs of disinterest in the face of Lula’s attempt to mediate: he planted the Brazilian president in a bilateral meeting agreed upon at the G7 in Hiroshima.
Beyond the shared concern for Ukraine, Lula’s presence in the Vatican is a relevant fact in itself: In October 2022, before the second round of the Brazilian elections, Francisco called to banish hatred from the country, which was interpreted by many Bolsonaristas as support for Lula.
“Lula’s trip to the Holy See breaks a years-long fast,” said analyst Elio Gaspari in The globe.