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Kyiv's invitation to Lula as Putin toured occupied areas
Summary
On 18 April 2023, Ukraine's government invited Brazil's president to visit while Russia's president travelled to occupied Kherson and Luhansk oblasts.
What did Kyiv want from Brazil's president, and what was Moscow doing at the same moment? The events of 18 April 2023, looked at from 19 April 2023, offered a pointed contrast between two diplomatic and military signals.
An invitation with criticism attached
The Ukrainian government invited Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to visit Ukraine. The invitation came with criticism: Kyiv took issue with Lula's approach to the Russian invasion.
Russia responded in a different tone. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed Lula's position on peace efforts. The two reactions placed the Brazilian leader's stance at the centre of a public exchange between the warring sides.
Putin in the occupied south and east
On the same date, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to Russian-occupied parts of Kherson and Luhansk oblasts. He met military commanders in charge of operations there.
The two oblasts were among four that Russia declared annexed on 30 September 2022, along with Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia. Most of Luhansk Oblast and part of Donetsk Oblast had been controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, while Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts were invaded by Russia in 2022. The boundaries of the claimed areas were not defined at the time of the declaration, and none of the four oblasts was fully under Russian control then or afterwards.
Two messages on one day
Taken together, the day's reports showed Kyiv courting a prominent foreign leader while pressing him over his stance, Moscow publicly approving that stance, and Russia's president appearing in territory he claimed as Russian, in the company of his commanders.
