Lula, Macron discuss US tariffs, Mercosur-EU deal in phone call
FILE PHOTO: Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and French President Emmanuel Macron leave after visiting an exhibition by Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto Friday, June 6, 2025 at the Grand Palais museum in Paris, France. Michel Euler/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
SAO PAULO/PARIS - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke by phone on Wednesday with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and discussed U.S. tariffs and the Mercosur-European Union trade deal, Brazil's government said in a statement.
Lula voiced his opposition to tariffs on Brazilian goods, and the two leaders committed to concluding negotiations on the long-awaited deal between the South American bloc and the EU by the end of the year, the statement said.
Lula had previously said he was hopeful the two parties would be able to finalize the deal in the second half, when his country holds the rotating presidency of Mercosur, which also includes Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
The trade pact was agreed in principle in December, but has faced pushback from countries such as France, which says the deal's terms would harm its agricultural sector.
In a post on X, Macron said he reiterated to Lula his readiness for an "ambitious" EU-Mercosur agreement, "as long as it safeguards the interests of our French and European agriculture, and serves our respective economies."
"We also spoke at length about economic issues, particularly tariffs, as well as our bilateral cooperation in the fields of defense and transport," Macron added. REUTERS
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Straits Times
19 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Putin's demand to Ukraine: Give up Donbas, no Nato and no Western troops
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In the most detailed Russian-based reporting to date on Mr Putin's offer at the summit, Reuters was able to outline the contours of what the Kremlin would like to see in a possible peace deal to end a war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people. In essence, the Russian sources said, Mr Putin has compromised on territorial demands he laid out in June 2024, which required Kyiv to cede the entirety of the four provinces Moscow claims as part of Russia: Dontesk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine - which make up the Donbas - plus Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south. Kyiv rejected those terms as tantamount to surrender. In his new proposal, the Russian president has stuck to his demand that Ukraine completely withdraw from the parts of the Donbas it still controls, according to the three sources. In return, though, Moscow would halt the current front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, they added. 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Ukraine's foreign ministry had no immediate comment on the proposals. President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land as part of a deal, and has said the industrial Donbas region serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine. 'If we're talking about simply withdrawing from the east, we cannot do that,' he told reporters in comments released by Kyiv on Aug 21. 'It is a matter of our country's survival, involving the strongest defensive lines.' Joining Nato, meanwhile, is a strategic objective enshrined in the country's constitution and one which Kyiv sees as its most reliable security guarantee. Mr Zelensky said it was not up to Russia to decide on the alliance's membership. The White House and Nato didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the Russian proposals. 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At the meeting, Mr Putin conveyed clearly to Mr Witkoff that he was ready to compromise and set out the contours of what he could accept for peace, according to two Russian sources. If Russia and Ukraine could reach an agreement, then there are various options for a formal deal - including a possible three-way Russia-Ukraine-US deal that is recognised by the UN Security Council, one of the sources said. Another option is to go back to the failed 2022 Istanbul agreements, where Russia and Ukraine discussed Ukraine's permanent neutrality in return for security guarantees from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, the sources added. 'There are two choices: war or peace, and if there is no peace, then there is more war,' one of the people said. REUTERS

Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Military options for Ukraine developed and will be presented to Western national security advisers
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Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
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