Brazil's Lula said spoke to Putin on war, declined invitation for economic forum

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday he had a phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and reiterated his country's willingness to talk to both sides of the war in Ukraine seeking peace.

Lula tweeted he had also thanked Putin for an invitation to attend an economic forum in Saint Petersburg, but had to decline it as he "can't visit Russia at the moment".