Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Brazil's President Lula travels to Moscow for "Victory Day" - announcement after telephone call with Putin
Berliner Zeitung
Brazil's President Lula travels to Moscow for "Victory Day" - announcement after telephone call with Putin
Article by sba • 2 hours • 2 minutes reading time
After a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian government has announced that Lula will take part in the celebrations marking the end of the Second World War in Moscow. According to a statement from Brasilia, Lula thanked Russia for the invitation in the telephone call on Monday and Putin said he was "pleased at the prospect of receiving the Brazilian president". According to Putin, this should strengthen relations between Brazil and Russia.
Russia and Brazil are members of the BRICS group of states, which includes India, China and South Africa, as well as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and, more recently, Indonesia. Brazil currently holds the rotating presidency of the group. In the phone conversation, according to Brasilia, Putin expressed his support for the Brazilian chairmanship and his willingness to further promote initiatives to facilitate trade and investment between members and in other areas.
The union, which has existed since 2009, was originally founded to reduce Western dominance in global affairs and create a multipolar world order.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. In Russia, the so-called "Victory Day" over Hitler's fascism is traditionally held on May 9 with a military parade on Red Square.
Since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, however, fewer and fewer heads of state and government from other parts of the world have attended. Last year, the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were present. In addition to the heads of state of the five former Soviet republics, only the heads of Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bisseau traveled to Moscow for the parade.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently also issued an indirect invitation to US President Donald Trump to the celebrations on May 9 this year. "We hope that the Americans and President Trump will share with us the joy of the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the Victory," he said last week. (with AFP)