Ukraine should negotiate with Amorim to buy Guarani armored vehicles

The Ukrainian government is using the trip of the advisor to the Presidency, ex-chancellor Celso Amorim, to ask Brazil to sell troop transport armored vehicles converted into field ambulances to transport wounded and refugees in the war in Ukraine. The Guarani armored vehicles, produced in Sete Lagoas (MG), by the company Iveco, are the most modern combat vehicles in Brazil, but they are not war tanks.

Amorim is in Ukraine to try to ease the international crisis with the Western powers caused by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s speeches in support of Russia. The visit to the Ukrainian government takes place before Lula goes to the G7 summit, the group of rich Western countries. The Brazilian president had been claiming that Ukraine was as guilty as Russia for the invasion and accused the United States and its European allies of fomenting war by sending arms to Ukraine.

The correct version of the facts is that Russia militarily invaded Ukraine without being attacked in February 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin was even convicted at the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Western powers then began to send resources and weapons to Ukraine in order to help contain Russian military expansion and protect the civilian population.

Guarani armored vehicles are amphibious vehicles for transporting infantry troops. They withstand heavy weapons fire, but not rocket and missile fire. They are armed with a 50 caliber machine gun and are used by the Army in national defense and have already participated in Law and Order Guarantee operations in areas dominated by organized crime in Brazil.

Safe evacuation of civilians from the battlefield is a challenge for Ukraine

Ukraine’s intention, according to the report with diplomats from the country, is to buy a version of this armored vehicle in which it works as an ambulance. In this way, the Guarani ambulance version will be used as support to evacuate civilians from conflict zones and transport wounded from combat areas to hospitals. That is, they would not participate directly in the conflict, being even painted in orange and yellow, to designate them as non-combatants.

The evacuation of civilians from combat areas has been a big problem for Ukrainians. Russia has never fully respected agreements that created humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from towns on the line of contact between the two armies or in invaded territory.

Armored Guarani is a strategic project of the Army

Guarani armored vehicles are part of the Army’s main strategic project for developing weapons. Although the vehicle is produced by the multinational Iveco, the Army owns the project. Therefore, Brazil needs to authorize the export. It is still not known, for sure, how many vehicles Ukraine requested from Brazil.

According to the specialized publication Tecnologia e Defesa, the number of vehicles purchased could reach 450. Their price depends on several factors in the supply contract, but is around R$ 5 million per unit. Itamaraty was approached by the report to provide more details about the request, but did not provide information.

Today, Brazil has around 600 active Guaranis. In practice, the export of armored vehicles means that Brazil’s defense industrial base would benefit from the billionaire funds that have been sent to Ukraine by the United States and its allies. The idea is for Iveco to produce the new ambulance version of the armored vehicle for Ukrainians, but the project may later be used in Brazil.

Lula did not want to take the risk of traveling to the battlefield

The request for the vehicles had already been formalized with the Ministry of Defense, but in practice the negotiations must go through Celso Amorim.

Lula had been invited by the Ukrainian president himself, Volodymyr Zelensky, to pay a visit to Kyiv. The invitation came after Amorim went to Russia and met with President Vladimir Putin. According to the Chargé d’Affaires for Ukraine in Brazil, Anatoliy Tkach, a visit by Lula to Ukraine could “change the PT’s attitude” towards war.

Lula decided not to go and send his adviser. This visit, however, should not be comfortable or luxurious at all, as Ukraine suffers from almost daily bombings from Russia. Between last Sunday (7) and this Tuesday (9), Russia launched 15 cruise missiles against the Ukrainian capital and carried out, over the weekend, the biggest suicide drone attack against Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

Furthermore, getting to the country has not been easy and cannot be done by traditional methods. The airspace is closed and arriving by plane or helicopter would be virtually impossible. In February of this year, when the conflict between the countries marked a year, the current president of the United States, Joe Biden (Democrats), made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital and went through “suffocation” until he landed in Kyiv.

In addition to the flight hours, the presidential delegation also needed to take more than 10 hours by train on a route used to bring aid to Ukraine and also where millions of Ukrainian women and children fled the conflict. Celso Amorim found a similar scenario to arrive in the Ukrainian capital. In addition to Biden, several European heads of state and government made the journey.

Brazil has already denied sending anti-aircraft ammunition to protect Ukrainian cities

Presidents Lula and Jair Bolsonaro had already denied requests from the Ukrainian government to send anti-aircraft ammunition to the German Gepard tank, which Brazil also owns. The Bolsonaro government did not explain the denial. Lula’s government argued that sending ammunition would be taking sides in the war.

The Ukrainians had claimed humanitarian reasons to ask for the munitions. They needed to defend their population against suicide drone attacks and Brazil was practically the only country with enough stocks to help.

Amorim was sent to Ukraine to soften Lula’s statements against the West and prepare the ground for Brazil’s participation in the G7 summit, which brings together Ukraine’s allies.

Lula’s response to the request to purchase the Guaranis should show whether the Brazilian government is in fact willing to collaborate with the G7 or whether Amorim’s trip was just an attempt to mitigate the damage through diplomatic talks.