Talking Europe interviews João Gomes Cravinho, Portugal’s top diplomat. He discusses whether Portugal’s ally, Brazil, could have a role to play in talks between Ukraine and Russia one day – this after the president of Brazil, which has not imposed sanctions on Russia, nor sent ammunition to Kyiv, called for a negotiated settlement. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recently visited Portugal as part of a European diplomatic tour. Cravinho also talks about EU and NATO support to Ukraine, as well as Portugal’s relations with China in the light of how Lisbon approaches the questions of both Macau and Taiwan.
On Lula's pitch for a negotiated solution, Cravinho says: "Unfortunately, this is not a moment when we can be optimistic about any negotiations. But it is important that countries such as Brazil, such as China, such as India, that have an ongoing dialogue with Russia, engage with Russia in order to explain that Russia is going to have to find a way out of the mess it has created. This was very much part of our conversation with President Lula (of Brazil) when he was in Portugal."
