Kremlin says Brazil’s Ukraine plan deserves attention, hasn’t seen any proposal from France

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that while Brazil’s efforts to mediate the Ukrainian issue “deserved attention,” it had not seen any plans for a peace settlement proposed by France.

According to Bloomberg, French President Emmanuel Macron is planning to approach China with a plan that might serve as the foundation for discussions between Moscow and Kiev.

Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attracted censure from the US on Monday for recent remarks implying that the West was “encouraging” the violence by arming Ukraine. He suggested that Washington cease providing armaments to Ukraine and start talking about peace.

Lula has proposed forming a group of non-combatant countries to mediate peace, telling reporters on Sunday that he had discussed the proposal with the leaders of China and the United Arab Emirates.

When asked about Lula’s proposal, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “Any ideas that take account of Russia’s interests deserve attention and certainly need to be listened to.”

Various countries and world leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, France’s Macron, and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, have attempted to position themselves as potential peacemakers some 14 months into the war.

Russia has stated that it is willing to hold negotiations, but only on its own conditions. It states that Ukraine must accept the “new realities” on the ground, notably its annexation of four Ukrainian areas, which Kyiv and the West regard as unlawful.

Ukraine has repeatedly stated that it will not talk peace or a ceasefire until Russian soldiers have left every inch of internationally recognized Ukrainian land, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claiming that any interim truce would just allow Russia to regroup for a future offensive.

Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Macron was attempting to collaborate with China to develop a framework that might serve as the foundation for bilateral negotiations.

The Kremlin said it had seen the stories but had not spoken with France about them. “We are not aware of the existence of any French plan, and we have not received anything from the French side,” Peskov stated.