(Bloomberg) — President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in October when the two leaders attend the BRICS summit slated to be held in Russia, Brazil’s government said in statement Thursday night.

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It will be the first meeting of the bloc in which Putin will participate since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022. The Russian president didn’t travel to the group’s summit last year in South Africa given the risk of being arrested by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

Earlier Thursday, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Lula at the presidential residence in Brasilia.

According to the Brazilian government’s statement, Lavrov outlined Russia’s positions regarding the conflict in Ukraine. Lula reiterated that Brazil “remains willing to cooperate with efforts in favor of peace.”

Lula on Wednesday had received US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the presidential palace.

Blinken and Lavrov were in Brazil for the Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

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