US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held 'frank' talks with the Brazilian leader after he made controversial comments comparing Israel's war in Gaza to the Holocaust.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva and told him that he "disagrees" with recent remarks made by the Brazilian leader about the conflict in Gaza.
A State Department official told reporters the pair had a "frank exchange" during a long meeting at the presidential palace in Brasilia.
Over the weekend, Lula prompted outrage in Israel, by accusing it of "genocide" in Gaza and also claiming that its military campaign after Hamas' October 7 attack was akin to Adolf Hitler's mass extermination of an estimated 6 million Jews during World War II.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly said he had crossed a "red line," and Israel declared the Brazilian leader was not welcome there.
The Brazilian president's office, meanwhile, offered a different summary of Lula's talks with the top US diplomat ahead of a G20 foreign ministers' meeting.
"President Lula reaffirmed his wish for peace and an end to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip," the Brazilian government said. "Both agreed on the need for the creation of a Palestinian state."
Lula has also faced criticism from the US and Ukraine for his recent comments on that conflict.
Source: Dw
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