During the Peace and Security and Global Governance Reform session at the 17th BRICS Summit, the host president stated that the creation of the United Nations marked “the defeat of Nazi-fascism and the birth of collective hope,” but currently “we are witnessing an unprecedented collapse of multilateralism.”

He remembered that many of the countries that are now members of the bloc were founders of the UN and also key figures in the Bandung Conference, which in 1955 rejected the division of the world into zones of influence and defended a multipolar international order.

Among the setbacks denounced are attacks on international climate and trade entities, the fragility of the global health system — exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic — and the “absurd demands on intellectual property” that hinder access to medicines.

He drew attention to the unprecedented number of conflicts since World War II and to the recent decision by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to increase military spending.

Lula warned that the fear of a nuclear catastrophe has returned to everyday life and urged people not to be indifferent to the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza Strip, the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians, and the use of hunger as a weapon of war.

He considered that the only possible solution to the conflict lies in “the end of the Israeli occupation and the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.”

Lula also reaffirmed Brazil’s commitment to peace and dialogue and, despite the alarming situation, recognized the historic advances of multilateralism, such as the decolonization process and the prohibition of chemical weapons.

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