SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s government said on Friday that French President Emmanuel Macron has accepted an invitation from his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and will visit the South American country in the first half of 2024.
The announcement came following a phone call between the two leaders in which they discussed the crisis in Middle East, agreeing that both countries will continue to search for ways to promote peace in the region, the government said in a statement.
France earlier this week voted in favor of a Brazilian-drafted resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would have called for humanitarian pauses in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip.
The resolution, however, ended up vetoed by the United States.
“The two presidents agreed on the need for Hamas to immediately release hostages and on the terrible toll inflicted by the conflict on Palestinian and Israeli children,” Brazil’s presidential office said.
“They expressed concern about the risks of an escalation.”
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Steven Grattan)
