French President Emmanuel Macron has begun a three-day visit to Brazil, where a key issue on his agenda is convincing his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to take a stand on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

French officials told Bloomberg on condition of anonymity that Macron hopes that his differences with Lula over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can be narrowed, even though Brazil considers that the two sides share the blame for the war.

"Lula has repeatedly rejected arming Ukraine, arguing that the US and EU strategy is undermining the prospect of a negotiated solution," Bloomberg reported.

Brazil’s stance resonates across emerging economies in the Global South.

French officials told Bloomberg that  Macron sees Brazil as a key player among these emerging powers, especially given its current rotating presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) countries, which include most of the world’s largest economies.

For his part, Bloomberg reported, Lula wants Macron to stop opposing the EU’s free-trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc, which has been in limbo since a political deal was reached in 2019.

Macron’s visit to Brazil is also an effort to appease French farmers who are protesting over what they see as cheap agricultural imports from South America and other countries.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent statement that "it should not be ruled out" that Western troops might be sent to Ukraine has caused a stir, but Macron refused to walk back his statement. He insisted that his statement was carefully thought through and stressed that France would not follow the "logic of escalation" in its relations with Russia.

Macron later said that in the event that Western troops are deployed in Ukraine, French forces would not launch an offensive against Russia.