Hope when Brazil opens G20 Summit next year Russia-Ukraine war would have ended: Lula da Silva

Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday said that he hopes when Brazil opens the G20 Summit next year the Russia-Ukraine war would have ended and things would be back to normal.Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Monday, Lula said, "...Brazil has the conditions to be the host country of G20 next year. We want to use many cities in Brazil to organise a great number of events there.... I hope that when we open the Summit in Brazil, the war has ended and we are back to normal times...."Congratulating India for hosting an "exceptionally well" summit, he said that the leaders and delegates received great warmth from the Indian people."I would like to congratulate India for organising the Summit exceptionally well. We have received great warmth from the Indian people," he added.He said he was unaware of the reasons for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping to not participate in the G20 Summit."I will invite them and hope that they will come to Brazil and participate in the summit," added Lula.Calling it a big responsibility, Lula listed a few priorities that Brazil would want to focus on during the G20 Summit next year."We will put the inequality issue as the core issue during the summit. Another issue that we are going to discuss is the energy transition. Brazil has extraordinary potential in the production of clean energy. We are also going to discuss the reform of the multilateral institutions. We also want to discuss permanent membership of the UN Security Council...," added the Brazilian President.On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over the G20 presidential gavel to the Brazilian President and expressed faith that India's successor will further global unity and prosperity.PM Modi handed over the ceremonial gavel to Lula at the concluding session of the G20 Leaders' Summit amid thunderous applause.Brazil officially will take over the mantle of the G20 presidency on 1 December and the next Summit is scheduled to be held at the popular seaside resort city of Rio de Janeiro in November 2024.Lula also held a bilateral meeting with Modi Sunday evening where the two leaders talked about ways to boost trade and cooperation in agriculture and technology.With inputs from agencies