247 - US President Donald Trump will explore ways to 'resolve bilateral issues', including trade, in a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to be held in Asia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday (25), according to information released by Reuters.

Rubio also stated that President Lula's government should choose between the US and China as Brazil's preferred trading partner."We think that in the long run, it is beneficial for Brazil to make us its preferred trading partner, rather than China," Rubio told reporters, traveling on an official plane from Israel to Qatar, on his way to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia, which Presidents Lula and Trump will attend.

President Lula said on Friday (24) that he is willing to discuss a wide range of topics with Trump if a meeting takes place, including tariffs on Brazilian exports and tensions between the US and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Earlier, President Lula, speaking to journalists in Kuala Lumpur, denied that conditions had been set for bilateral negotiations regarding the impasse generated by the US tariff hike against Brazil.