Foreign Ministers Lavrov (of Russia, left) and Vieira (of Brazil) appear in Brasilia this Monday Associated Press / LaPresse (APN)
Brazil welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with full honors on Monday, whom the United States and the European Union sanctioned the day after Russian tanks invaded Ukraine 14 months ago. Russia wants to end the war as soon as possible, said the experienced head of Russian diplomacy in Brasilia. “We thank the Brazilian side for their contribution to resolving this conflict, which we must resolve in a sustainable and immediate manner,” Lavrov said when he appeared with his counterpart Mauro Vieira. Lavrov is expected to be received by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the afternoon. Since coming to power, the president has encouraged the creation of a group of non-aligned countries that will persuade the presidents of Russia and Ukraine to sit down and negotiate an end to the conflict.
Lavrov’s official visit to Brasilia, hours after Russian courts sentenced opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison, marks the start of a tour that will also take him to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Brazilian President believes it’s time to stop arms sales to Ukraine and talk more about diplomacy and negotiations. For this reason, he proposes creating a group of non-aligned countries, a “G-20 for peace”, which will work for a negotiated solution to the conflict that has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced: “It is necessary for the United States and the EU, start talking about peace so that we can convince [Vladímir] Put already [Volodímir] Zelensky that peace is in the interest of the whole world. The Brazilian has presented his initiative at bilateral meetings or phone calls with the leaders of the US, China, France and even Ukraine, among others, but until now the reaction, at least publicly, has been indifference except for Lavrov’s words.
Federal police also suspect Lavrov’s visit that the Kremlin is using Brazil to create false identities for its spies. At least three secret agents with ties to Russian espionage have been spotted using Brazilian passports in recent months.
Lula’s reception of the Russian foreign minister has the potential to fuel anger from the United States and the European Union at the Brazilian president, who in recent days has accused Washington of “inciting war,” and along with the European Union, it by arming Kiev.
The EU replied to Lula this Monday via a spokesman that “Russia, and only Russia, is responsible for the unlawful and provocative aggression against Ukraine, so there is no doubt who is the aggressor and who is the victim.” And he added that the supply of war material to the Ukrainian troops “helps Ukraine to exercise its right to self-defense, because if this is not the case, Ukraine risks being destroyed”.
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Brazil has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations but opposes sanctions and has rejected requests to sell ammunition to Ukraine. Brazil’s foreign minister has again criticized the Russian minister for “unilateral sanctions (against Russia) not approved by the United Nations”.
Like last week during Lula’s visit to Beijing, this high-level visit from Moscow marks an attempt on the horizon to shift the international balance of power at a time of rising US-China hostilities. In this sense, Lavrov emphasized in Brasilia: “We are achieving a more just world order based on rights, and this gives us the vision of a multipolar world.”
Brazilian diplomacy has a deep-rooted tradition of neutrality. Ever since the Cold War days, it has always avoided joining any of the big blocs. He prefers to maintain cordial relations with the more countries the better. But now, apart from trying to maintain an independent profile, some of Lula’s comments about the war in Ukraine are particularly disturbing in the West. The harshness with which he refers to the role of the USA, the EU or Ukraine is seen by the West as a sign of a tendency towards the Russian side.
During the recent official visit to China and the United Arab Emirates, Lula not only stressed the need to get Presidents Putin and Zelensky to sit down for negotiations, but on the eve of this trip again blamed both sides for the war , dropped that Kiev should refrain from recapturing Crimea, which was illegally annexed in 2014.
A few weeks ago, Lula sent to Moscow his main international adviser, diplomat and former foreign minister Celso Amorim, who met Putin just as the International Criminal Court had already ordered his arrest on charges of illegally deporting Ukrainian children.
In addition to the war in Ukraine, the Brazilian government is also interested in trade issues such as fertilizers that Brazil imports from Russia. Ensuring that supply was the reason given by former President Jair Bolsonaro during his visit to Moscow on the eve of the invasion, which included meeting with Putin.
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