Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned the “violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine” following criticism from a White House spokesman for his position on the armed conflict, which has been going on for more than a year.

“While my government condemns the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, we defend a negotiated political solution to the conflict” Lula said on Tuesday during a lunch with authorities in honor of Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis, who visited Brasilia.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby accused Brazil on Monday of “parrotRussian propaganda on the war, after Lula said on a trip to Beijing over the weekend that the United States should stop encouraging hostilities.

The left-wing president had also reiterated that Ukraine shares the blame for the war with Russia, something Kiev vehemently rejects.

“Brazil is copying Russian and Chinese propaganda without looking at the factsKirby had told reporters in Washington on Monday, though he did not directly name the Brazilian president.

Kirby’s comments were criticized by Celso Amorim, President Lula da Silva’s top foreign policy adviser, who called the spokesman’s comments “absurd”.

“To say that it ‘parrots’ the Russian position is utter nonsense. We have different points of agreement (with Russia), but at different times Brazil, during the current government, condemned the invasion of Ukraine,” he told the channel. GloboNews Celso Amorim, also former Brazil’s foreign minister during Lula’s first two terms (2003-2010).

“President Lula has always stressed that the use of force and the issue of the territorial integrity of states, in the UN Charter as a whole, are fundamental principles. So we’re definitely not condescending about thatadded Amorim.

The US spokesman’s statements had already been rejected on Monday by Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, after he had received Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Brasilia.