Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy played down the fact he did not meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Japan on Sunday and said it was likely because of scheduling.

Asked if he was disappointed the meeting did not happen, he told a news conference he thought it was more of a disappointment for the Brazilian leader.

"I think it disappointed him," he said, smirking and drawing laughs from reporters.

Zelenskiy met an array of world leaders on the sidelines of the summit in the city of Hiroshima over the weekend on a trip seen as part of a push to court the "Global South" as Kyiv fends off Russia's full-scale invasion.

(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; writing Tom Balmforth; editing by William Maclean and Hugh Lawson)