After criticism of the US, Lula’s government meets with Russian chancellor

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in Brazil, this Monday morning (17). The envoy of Vladimir Putin, Russian president, was received by Chancellor Mauro Vieira, at Itamaraty, and will participate in a restricted meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) this afternoon.

“This meeting was an opportunity to continue the dialogue started at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi, India”, declared Vieira after the meeting with Lavrov.

The Brazilian chancellor said that Russia “occupies a prominent role” in foreign trade with Brazil and that the two countries intend to deepen the exchange, citing especially the trade in fertilizers and agricultural products.

“A quarter of the fertilizers used in Brazil are produced in Russia. We are dealing with an agreement to guarantee the flow of this vitally important input for our agriculture. We are also dealing with Brazilian establishments being able to export products of animal origin to Russia”.

According to the National Supply Company (Conab), Russia is responsible for around 20% of world fertilizer production and the origin of 28% of Brazilian imports.

Lavrov also commented on the expansion of the bilateral and commercial relationship between Brazil and Russia. “We are going to broaden several themes and several areas to improve. We are going to make an effort in the energy area, in particular atomic and peaceful energy. Space exploration, agriculture, pharmaceutical area. We are going to diversify our cultural, educational relationship”, stated the Russian Chancellor.

The war between Russia and Ukraine was another matter discussed between the two foreign ministers this morning, according to the Itamaraty. Vieira said that he reinforced the Brazilian position for the construction of a “peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine” and stressed to Lavrov that the Brazilian government is against “unilateral sanctions”.

“Including [reforcei] President Lula’s position for the formation of a group of friendly countries that can lead the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine so that a lasting peace agreement can be built”, he said, also adding that Brazil is in favor of a ceasefire negotiated, “with respect to humanitarian rights and a negotiated solution with a view to lasting peace”.

The Russian chancellor said he was grateful “for the Brazilian contribution to the solution” of the conflict. “We need to resolve [a guerra] in a lasting and not immediate way”, stated Lavrov.

Both also criticized the unilateral sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia, especially after the invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

“I also reinforced the Brazilian position against unilateral sanctions. These measures, in addition to not having the endorsement of the United Nations [ONU]they have negative impacts on economies around the world, especially in developing countries”, added the Brazilian minister.

Lavrov also criticized the sanctions and said that Brazil and Russia want to “work for a fairer and more correct world order”, based on multilateralism.

“The unilateral sanctions that were applied without UN approval are impeding the work of various organizations. We are talking about the hard-fought situation where colleagues in the West want to maintain their financial positions and that has motivated the situation we have today in Russia.” .

When criticizing Ukraine, the Russian foreign minister also said that he hopes that the conflict will be resolved “as soon as possible”. He also stated that Russia supports Brazil’s participation as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and that the two countries should use the presidencies in the G20 and in the BRICS next year “to advantage”.

“Brazil is preparing to head the G20 next year and we are going to head the Brics and this is a great opportunity to see how we can use this advantageously. The Brics countries are part of the G20 and all the Brics countries are aligned”

Lavrov’s arrival in Brazil comes amid Russia’s diplomatic offensive against the West, and after President Lula’s criticism of the United States and Ukraine, during an official trip to China and the United Arab Emirates, last week.

In the president’s view, Ukraine was also responsible for the decision to go to war with Russia. In May 2022, the PT had already stated that the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, was as responsible for the conflict as the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s war against Ukraine approaches 14 months with no signs of abating. Protesters marked protests against the presence of the head of Russian diplomacy in Brazil in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Brasília, where about seven people protested with signs.

In 2022, the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) even suspended a visit to Brazil by the Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, which was scheduled for April, and a bilateral meeting, due to the war in Ukraine. Lavrov’s visit to Brazil is the first since 2019, the year in which Putin himself was in Brasília, at the Brics summit – a group that brings together India, China and South Africa, in addition to Brazil and Russia.

At the end of March this year, a delegation made up of high-ranking members of the PT responded to an invitation from Putin’s party, United Russia, to visit Moscow. The meeting’s agenda was the fight against “neocolonialism” practiced by European nations and the United States against developing nations, in the Russian view.

Russo will visit Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba

After visiting Brasília, the senior Kremlin official is going to visit the dictatorships of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, which are Moscow’s main partners in Latin America.

So far, there is no prediction of protests in these countries that use large apparatuses to repress popular demonstrations.

“We defend the strengthening of Russian-Latin American cooperation based on mutual support, solidarity and taking into account the interests of each other”, wrote Lavrov in an article published by the Mexican magazine Buzos de la Noticia.

The action is part of an attempt by the Kremlin to find new allies in Africa and Latin America in an effort to confront the United States and the European Union.