Lula will not go to Russia. The Brazilian president canceled his trip to the Brics summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) on Sunday, which he will still attend by videoconference, the Brazilian presidency announced, citing the consequences of a domestic accident. preventing travel by plane. “On medical advice, (Lula) will not go to the Brics summit in Kazan, due to a temporary impediment which prohibits him from flying long distances,” the Brazilian presidency said in a press release.
His doctor Roberto Kalil said in an interview with the television channel GloboNews that the president had suffered a fall in his bathroom which caused “major” trauma, requiring stitches and leading to a “small brain hemorrhage”. According to a medical report published Sunday by the Sirio Libanes hospital in Brasilia, Lula suffered a shock to the “occipital region” on Saturday, at the back of the head.
“It’s a disease that will require repeated examinations throughout the week. Any brain hemorrhage, theoretically, can get worse in the days that follow, which is why observation is important,” Roberto Kalil said, adding that Lula was doing well and could resume normal activities. Indeed, the hospital report states that Lula “has been advised to avoid long-haul air travel,” but that he is “able to perform his usual duties.”
No third meeting between Lula and Putin
The latter will participate by videoconference in the deliberations and has maintained his work agenda for the week in Brasilia at the presidential palace of Planalto, indicated the Brazilian presidency. Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira was appointed to lead the Brazilian delegation to Russia.
Lula was to board for Russia late Sunday afternoon and meet Vladimir Putin for the third time since the start of his third term. In September, the two leaders spoke by telephone about a joint proposal from Brazil and China to try to end the war in Ukraine.
From October 22 to 24, Russia welcomes around twenty leaders to Kazan, on the Volga, for a summit of this diplomatic bloc originally associating Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and joined this year by four other countries: Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
During this summit, the Russian president will be keen to show the failure of the policy of isolation and sanctions carried out by the West in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Targeted by an arrest warrant from the international criminal court issued in March 2023, Vladimir Putin had given up participating in the previous Brics summit in South Africa. On Friday, he announced that he would not travel to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on November 18 and 19 for the G20 summit.
