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Feb. 22 (UPI) -- During a news conference on Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the common agenda shared by the United States and Brazil to end the war in Gaza, despite earlier heated remarks from President Lula da Silva. Blinken addressed reporters Thursday in Rio de Janeiro following a meeting of G20 foreign ministers.
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In his opening remarks, Blinken said the United States and Brazil share the "obligation of contending with the one existential threat to humanity," referring to climate change.
"The rainforest, the Amazon, is one of the the world's greatest national resources when it comes to actually effectively dealing with climate change," Blinken said, noting the Biden administrations support of Lula's efforts to preserve the Amazon.
The secretary's remarks come shortly after Lula caused international controversy when he called Israel's war in the Gaza strip a "genocide" and compared it to the Holocaust.
In response to Lula's remarks, Blinken said the majority of his meeting with the Brazilian president focused on the common agenda between the two countries share but said the United States "profoundly" disagrees with Lula's comparison with Gaza to the Holocaust.
"Also we are joined in having the shared objectives in this moment of getting hostages out, getting an extended humanitarian ceasefire in, along with more humanitarian assistance and ending the conflict," Blinken said of the conflict in Gaza.
Addressing concerns that the United States' support for Israel and the war has left it isolated from the majority of G20 nations supporting a ceasefire, Blinken said "everybody wants to see an end to this conflict as soon as possible" and downplayed the disagreement as "differences over tactics."
The United States on Tuesday was the only country to vote against a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
The decision drew harsh criticism from other council members. Algerian Ambassador Amar Benjama, who brought forward the resolution, said he has seen little to no results from U.S. negotiations while hundreds of Palestinians die daily.
Blinken, however, argued the resolution would not have led to a cease-fire and the best way to resolve the conflict is to come to a hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas.
"We are working every aspect of this, because that is the quickest path, the most effective path, to get to where everyone wants to go, including everyone at the G20," he said.
Blinken said the United States rejected the resolution because it was silent on the matter of hostages.
In regard to the death of Russian political opposition leader Alexei Navalny and continued Russian aggression against Ukraine, Blinken said sanctions against Russia are coming, but did not go into detail.
"Stay tuned. They will be forthcoming," he said, noting the persecution of Navalny "speaks volumes, not about Russia's strength under Putin, but its weakness."
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday said "major sanctions" are planned against Russia "to hold Mr. Putin accountable for now two years of war in Ukraine, but also specifically supplemented with additional sanctions regarding Mr. Navalny's death."
