U.S. top diplomat Antony Blinken met President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday, amid a diplomatic spat after the Brazilian leader likened Israel's war in Gaza to the Nazi genocide during World War Two.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, February 21, 2024. Reuters/Adriano Machado
U.S. top diplomat Antony Blinken met President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday, amid a diplomatic spat after the Brazilian leader likened Israel's war in Gaza to the Nazi genocide during World War Two.
In brief remarks in front of reporters as they met at Brasilia's presidential palace, Lula remarked that U.S. presidential elections are coming up in November.
Blinken responded that politics in the United States were "so polarized" and the election would come down to six or seven battleground states including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada.
"There are fewer and fewer undecided voters," Blinken said. "There's a battle for a very thin segment of the electorate."
U.S. officials have said they expected Lula and Secretary of State Blinken to have a robust conversation on issues of global security, including the conflict in Gaza sparked by attacks in southern Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.
Israel said on Monday that Lula is not welcome in Israel until he takes back the comments.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that Washington disagreed with Lula's comments, but declined to preview what Blinken would say in the meeting on the issue.
Lula's comments came after he visited the Middle East last week and just ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers in Rio de Janeiro as part of Brazil's presidency of the G20 group of advanced economies.
Several opposition parties are calling for the resignation of the Brazilian president following his remarks on Israel.
Washington, which provides Israel with military and diplomatic support, has urged Israel to protect civilians but defended Israel's right to target Hamas militants in the Gaza strip.
Ahead of Blinken's travel to South America, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols told reporters that sharing ideas on the conflict in Gaza would be "crucial to the conversation" between Lula and Blinken.
The two would also discuss efforts to promote democracy in Venezuela, a U.S.-Brazil partnership on workers' rights and cooperation on transitioning to clean energy, Nichols said.
Reporting by Simon Lewis
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Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his U.S. counterpart that military operations in the Gaza Strip have created conditions that would enable a hostage deal to be reached, Gallant's office said on Wednesday.
A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the Middle East was briefly interrupted on Wednesday when two protesters stood with signs and yelled for the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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