Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has come under harsh criticism from the White House for claiming that the United States is "encouraging" the conflict in Ukraine. After a weekend trip to China, Lula declared that the US needs to start discussing peace in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Lula while in Brazil and expressed appreciation for Brazil's efforts. John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, charged Lula with "parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda".

The United States needs to "stop encouraging war and start talking about peace," according to Lula, who has positioned himself as a middleman for negotiations to end the conflict. He made this statement over the weekend.

After meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, he made these remarks. In February, China released a peace strategy that makes no specific mention of Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine.

In February of last year, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Vladimir Putin has been the subject of an international arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

During his Monday visit to Brasilia, Lavrov stated that Moscow was "grateful to our Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the genesis of the situation". He said, "We are appreciative of their desire to help us discover solutions to resolve this issue.

By "suggesting that the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace, or that we share responsibility for the war," Kirby claimed that Lula's remarks were "simply misguided" and off-topic.

Mauro Vieira, the foreign minister of Brazil, responded to Mr. Kirby's statement by saying, "I don't know how or why he reached that conclusion, but I do not agree at all."

Brazil has declined offers to provide weapons to Ukraine and has not joined Western nations in putting sanctions on Russia.

While Brazil is urging for peace negotiations, Ukraine and its allies claim that a swift end to hostilities would allow Russia to retain control of the land it has illegally and forcibly taken.