Kuala Lumpur: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took a swipe Saturday at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions, saying they "stopped working" and failed to protect Gaza's war victims.

Lula was speaking after meeting Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, ahead of a major regional summit where the Brazilian leader would likely meet US President Donald Trump.

"Who can accept the genocide that has been going on in the Gaza Strip for so long?" Lula told reporters after the bilateral meeting to deepen ties between the two nations.

"The multilateral institutions that were created to try to prevent these things from happening have stopped working. Today, the UN Security Council and the UN no longer function," Lula said.

Lula also appeared to take a swipe at Trump, saying "for a leader, walking with their head held high is more important than a Nobel Prize."

Trump departed Washington Friday for Asia and high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, the last day of his trip.

But first, the US president is expected to witness the signing of a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia on Sunday, which he -- in part -- helped to broker.

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