In Spain, Brazil’s Lula stands his ground on Ukraine war

By JENNIFER O’MAHONY
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has met with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for talks aimed at making progress on an intercontinental trade deal. But his differences with the European Union on the war in Ukraine remained evident Wednesday. The 27-member EU completed negotiations on a wide-ranging trade deal with Mercosur, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, in 2019. But ratification stalled during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro due to fears over environmental standards and price protections for European farmers. Brazil and Spain are pushing to get the deal ready for scrutiny by member states at the the July 17-18 joint EU summit with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).