[24] In response to an attack by supporters of former President Bolsonaro on the Praça dos Três Poderes, Lula announced that he had signed a decree declaring a state of emergency in the Federal District until the end of January.

[32][33] Lula has been criticizing the president of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto, for maintaining the basic interest rate at 13.75% per year, and has even considered ending the institution's autonomy in the future.

[38][39] Campos Neto, seeking to relax the relationship with Planalto, gave an interview in February to the programme Roda Viva, on the TV Cultura, in which he adopted a calming tone, avoiding confrontation with the government.

[92] On 16 January 2024, Lula sanctioned the Pé de Meia programme, which provides the payment of a monthly financial incentive to high school students, encouraging them to continue studying until completing basic education.

[96] Also on 20 January, under pressure from religious entities, Lula created the "Department of Support for Therapeutic Communities", aimed at treating drug addicts; After the measure was criticized by human rights organizations, the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger announced that it would review the decision.

[26] Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest fell 61% in January 2023 from a year earlier following a series of anti-logging and anti-mining operations launched by government agencies under Lula, according to satellite data.

[135] On 4 April, Lula decreed that Women's police stations would be open 24/7, even on holidays; Another measure was also made, with the objective of fighting sexual harassment in public agencies and private institutions that provide services to the government.

Lula stated during the 2022 election campaign and after taking office that his government will consistently focus on to "bring back Brazil to the world stage", meaning the country will seek to rebuild ties cut or damaged during Bolsonaro's presidency, and expand its foreign relations worldwide.

[160] Lula and Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou held talks over infrastructure projects to be developed in Uruguay, including a joint Uruguayan-Brazilian administration of the Rivera International Airport.

[163][164] In December 2024, during a summit in Montevideo attended by Lula and Ursula von der Leyen, Mercosur struck a definitive free trade agreement with the European Union representing nearly a quarter of the global gross domestic product (GDP).

[185][186] In July 2023, Lula and Colombian president Gustavo Petro met in Leticia to discuss the details of an Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) summit scheduled to take place a month later.

[200] White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the meeting adding that it would address "U.S. support of Brazil's democracy and how the two countries can continue to work together to promote inclusion and democratic values in the region and around the world".

[215] During his visit to Brazil, Timmermans said that President Lula's efforts to end destruction in the Amazon deserves support and cooperation from the European Union, adding that the EU could donate up to €750,000 to help the Yanomami people facing a humanitarian crisis.

[216] In March 2023, the EU's commissioner for competition Margrethe Vestager met with Vice President Alckmin and other Brazilian officials during a meeting in Brasília to unveil the EU-Brazil bilateral Investment Map.

[218][219][220] In July 2023, numerous Latin American, Caribbean and European leaders, including Lula, attended the III EU-CELAC [es] summit in Brussels to discuss topics such as global hunger, inequalities, poverty and climate change.

[234] In March 2024, Macron was welcomed by Lula for a three days-long state visit in the northern Brazilian city of Belém, where they met indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire who was awarded the Legion of Honour).

[243][244] In March 2023, Germany's Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, as well as several German business people, attended the German-Brazilian Economic Meeting [de] in Belo Horizonte where they met with vice-president Geraldo Alckmin.

On 21 June, Lula met with General Secretary of the Democratic Party (PD), Elly Schlein, and former Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema, with whom he reportedly had talks about "democracy, world peace, climate change, inequality and challenges common to several countries".

[250] Lula met with Pope Francis on the Vatican City on 12 June after his diner with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, during the meeting at Paul VI's room, they reportedly discussed "peace and reconciliation, environmental preservation, respect for indigenous populations and the fight against hunger, inequality and poverty in the world", according to Brazilian and Holy See officials, although there was no explicit mention to the current Russo-Ukrainian war, Lula reportedly wanted to talk about a possible peaceful solution of the conflict with the Pope, but neither side mentioned any talks about that particular subject.

[256] Lula also attended a high-level Brazilian-Portuguese business meeting in Matosinhos in which Brazilian aerospace giant Embraer and four Portuguese companies (OGMA, EMPORDEF, GMVIS Skysof and CEiiA) announced a deal to build a Brazilian-designed aircraft.

[264][265] On 26 April, Lula, alongside several of his cabinet ministers, met with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez at the Moncloa Palace, where he signed two different deals regarding education and work areas, which includes facilitating student exchange programmes between universities in both countries, expanding cooperation between in higher education and adopting regulations for IT companies[266][267] Later on that day, Lula, Rosângela and FM Mauro Vieira met with King Felipe VI at the Royal Palace of Madrid.

[282] Lula has also insisted in seeking peace, which is a binding foreign policy principle under the current pacifist Constitution ,[a] as he turned down Brazilian military weaponry sales proposed by Germany and France to be sent to Ukraine.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby responded by accusing Lula of "parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda", describing his comments as "simply misguided" and "suggesting the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace, or that we share responsibility for the war.

[297] On 14 April, Lula separately met with Congress chairman Zhao Leji, Chinese premier Li Qiang and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing and signed numerous agreements (worth BRL 50 billion – nearly USD 10.1 billion) aiming at mutual cooperation such as to further develop the CBERS-4 constellation, to create a pannel to follow the Sustainable Development Goals in both countries and to open a Sino-Brazilian trade fair mainly focused on green, low-carbon economy and digitalization, among other agreements.

[302] In July 2024, Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin visited China amid the celebrations of bicentenary of the establishment of the Brazilian-Chinese relations, and also reportedly as a preparation for Brazil to join the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.

[304] On 21 March, Japanese ambassador to Brazil Teiji Hayashi confirmed that prime minister Fumio Kishida would invite president Lula to the 49th G7 summit to be held from 19 to 21 May 2023 in Hiroshima, which formally took place on 6 April.

Lula said he wants to "recover the good and productive relations Brazil used to have with Africa", and expressed his desire to open more Brazilian embassies in African countries and to pay another visit to Cape Verde to attend to 2023 CPLP Summit.

[341][342] On 1 November 2022, the COP27 host Egypt invited then President-elect Lula to visit the summit which raised hopes among climate activists and international organizations officials that Brazil will strengthen its environmental policies.

At the beginning of January, the NGO Transparency International issued a statement criticizing the choice of Waldez Goés, former Governor of Amapá and affiliated with the PDT, as Ministry of National Integration, due to his previous sentence to prison for misappropriation of public resources.

The work, valued at R$100 million, the most expensive of his government, was handed over to the company Reflorestadora Rio Pedreira, belonging to Breno Chaves Pinto, second deputy of senator Davi Alcolumbre, and will have the majority of its finances through resources from the "secret budget" sent by the parliamentarian himself.