The adjustment proposed by Lula is seen within the Brazilian government as essential for the country to accept the invitation to join the American-led Board of Peace. During the call, President Lula also reiterated the importance of preserving peace and stability in Venezuela.

The conversation had been in the works since Sunday night, when White House officials reached out to Brazilian diplomats to ask whether Lula would agree to speak with Trump the following morning. Although the initiative came from the U.S., Brazil had already been pushing for renewed dialogue between the two leaders for several weeks.

It was the fifth time the two presidents have been in contact since September of last year, when they established an open communication channel.

“Lula proposed that the body presented by the United States be limited to the issue of Gaza and include a seat for Palestine. In this context, he reiterated the importance of a comprehensive reform of the United Nations, including the expansion of permanent members of the Security Council,” the federal government said in a statement.

Lula’s team believes Brazil cannot accept an invitation that undermines longstanding institutions such as the United Nations Security Council.

Policy clash

Accepting a seat on the Board of Peace would contradict Brazil’s foreign policy, which has consistently supported the reform and strengthening of historical multilateral bodies.

People familiar with the matter told Valor that the Board of Peace’s charter—sent to Brazil last week along with the invitation—left the board’s scope of action undefined. This led Brazilian diplomats to suspect that the U.S. intends to use the Board of Peace for broader geopolitical purposes, not just peace efforts in Palestine.

If Trump does not agree to the proposed limits, Brazil is unlikely to take part in the board.

Lula’s team is also dissatisfied with a provision in the board’s structure that allows Trump to veto any decision, even as a lone dissenting voice.

Presidential aides say this would result in even greater “concentration of power” than what already exists in the UN Security Council, where only a few nations have veto power.

The concentration of power at the Security Council has long been a concern for Lula’s administration, which argues that the body must be expanded to reflect greater diversity and equal influence among nations. The Board of Peace, a source said, would only worsen this imbalance.

Despite the reservations, Lula did not give Trump a definitive answer about whether he would accept the invitation, the presidential communications office said.

During the same phone call, Lula reiterated a Brazilian proposal submitted to the U.S. State Department in December 2025 for enhanced cooperation between the two countries in fighting organized crime. This includes freezing criminal assets and sharing financial transaction data.

Brazil sees this security partnership as strategic to Lula’s re-election campaign, aiming to counter right-wing governors’ claims that the federal government is soft on crime.

While Brasília is eager to move forward, the U.S. has yet to seal the deal. Negotiations are expected to continue through March, when Lula is scheduled to make his first state visit to Trump in Washington.

The two leaders also discussed their countries’ economic outlooks, which they described as promising. They praised the “strong relationship” that has led to the lifting of many tariffs on Brazilian products.