The countries of China and Brazil continue to work to bring together developing countries around the plan to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Seventeen countries participated in a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Brazilian foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim. The countries discussed the necessity of preventing the spread of the conflict, avoiding the use of weapons of mass destruction and preventing attacks on nuclear power plants, according to Wang.
Russia and Ukraine are neighbours that cannot be moved away from each other and amity is the only realistic option, Wang said, adding that the international community should support a peace conference involving both Russia and Ukraine.
Separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the conflict in New York with his Brazilian counterpart Maura Vieira, the Foreign Ministry said on its website. Amorim said the 10 Global South countries attending the 17-nation meeting, including Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey, signed a communiqué based on a six-point plan proposed by Brazil and China in May.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing the assembly on Wednesday, questioned why China and Brazil were offering alternatives to his own peace formula. However, Amorim responded: “I’m not here to respond either to Zelenskiy or Putin, just to propose a way for peace.”
