Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday spoke to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by phone and asked him to attend this week's talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, Lula's office said in a statement.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva said he will ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to go to Turkey for peace talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, CNN reported on May 14. Russia invited Ukraine to direct talks in Istanbul after rejecting calls for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire backed by Europe,

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had promised to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks with Ukraine. However, during his visit to Moscow, he never met with Putin,