RIO DE JANEIRO, August 14. /TASS/. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he believes it would be important for the upcoming summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - known collectively as BRICS - to discuss the settlement of the situation in Ukraine and the fight against poverty.

"We will discuss the issue of inequality, issues of peace. It is impossible not to talk about it. It is impossible to imagine that at one point Russia and Ukraine will not sit down at the negotiating table and stop killing each other," he said in a weekly appearance on social networks, in a preview of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

He said Moscow and Kiev should come "to a common denominator" on the issue of a peaceful settlement in eastern Europe.

"So far, both [countries] believe they can win the war," the president said.

In addition to Ukraine, the Brazilian leader believes it’s important to confer with his BRICS counterparts about poverty and social and economic inequality in the world.

"Last year alone, developed countries spent more than $2.2 trillion on weapons. This money could have been used to fight unemployment, increase agricultural crops, feed 735 million people who, according to FAO, go hungry every day," he said, referring to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

According to Lula da Silva, the world community should abandon financing the policy of destruction in favor of a policy of building and reconstruction.

"In addition to spending on weapons and sending soldiers, we should also think about how much we will have to spend to rebuild what will be destroyed," the president said.

Since coming to power in January, Lula da Silva has stated that Russia is the guarantor of lasting peace across the world. He has already proposed that a new international format to create an opportunity for talks between Moscow and Kiev be developed. The Brazilian president also said that he was ready to mediate direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents if necessary. Kiev, in turn, has invited Brazil to communicate about the "peace formula" of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Brazil and developing countries earlier opposed the initiative.