Brazilian leader does not understand at all who is the aggressor and who is the victim in this war

Kateryna Vakarchuk

Ph.D. in Politics
I. Mechnikov Odesa National University

After the elections on January 1, 2023, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva became President of Brazil for the third time. In his inaugural speech, he stressed that his country is returning to global politics, and its foreign policy activities will be active.

During less than four months of his presidential term, Lula da Silva has already managed to visit Washington and Beijing, make several loud statements, in particular, regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war, which caused a great resonance in expert circles. Especially regarding Brazil’s position on Ukraine. Thus, according to the basic principles of Brazil’s foreign policy, it is neutral. According to its Constitution of 1988, such a policy is formed on the principles of non-interference, self-determination of nations, international cooperation and the search for peaceful solutions to any international conflicts.

And now Lula da Silva says that for unleashing the Russian-Ukrainian war… both sides should be blamed. Ukraine needs to give up joining NATO. During the UN votes, Brazil officially supported all resolutions and initiatives regarding Ukraine and condemned Russia’s aggression. However, the President of Brazil begins to make various shocking speeches that are perceived ambiguously. At this, despite loud statements, he pointed out that his country does not support Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and calls for a peaceful settlement of the situation.

During his recent visit to China (April 12–14), Brazilian President Lula da Silva, together with Chinese President Xi Jinping at talks in Beijing, called on countries around the world to be constructive in a political settlement.

As for the aim of the above-mentioned visit to China, the agenda included expansion of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, and only then — mediation efforts to end the war in Ukraine. By the way, no one from Ukraine asked Brazil for such “help”, and such an initiative is unlikely to be implemented. As for its essence, it lies in the fact that Lula da Silva proposed to unite Brazil’s efforts with the leaders of countries such as China, Indonesia, India, the UAE to convince the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to negotiate. He proposes to create a group of mediator countries, like the Group of 20, who should be neutral and impartial about the Russian-Ukrainian war. It is clear that with such initiatives, Brazil seeks to fight for a place in the new geopolitical world in order to play a more prominent role in world geopolitics.

The international community also reacted ambiguously to Lula da Silva’s statement that the United States must stop “promoting war” in Ukraine and “start talking about peace”, that the European Union should also “must start talking about peace”. He believes that it is the international community that can convince the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia that “peace is for the benefit of the whole world”.

Of course, Ukrainian side perceives such statements negatively, because it seems that the Brazilian leader does not understand at all who is the aggressor and who is the victim in this war, and that the war is exclusively aggressive. Russians seek to seize our territory, kill Ukrainians and destroy the Ukrainian nation. And his statement that Ukraine must give up Crimea for a ceasefire is considered absolutely unacceptable by the Ukrainian leadership.

Thus, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, reacting to Lula da Silva’s statement on Crimea, pointed out that the liberation of Crimea is “without alternative” and the return of the Peninsula under Ukrainian control will mean the defeat of the aggressor and the restoration of lasting peace. “The world must know: respect and order will return to international relations only when Ukrainian flag returns to Crimea, when there is freedom there — just like everywhere else in Ukraine”, the President of Ukraine emphasized.

Spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleh Nikolenko, commenting on the President of Brazil’s statement, said that there is no legal, political or moral reason for Ukraine to cede even a centimeter of Ukrainian land: “Ukraine appreciates the efforts of the President of Brazil to find a solution to stop Russia’s aggression. At the same time, we must clearly state: Ukraine does not trade its territories”.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine pointed out that Ukrainian position remains unchanged: any mediation efforts to restore peace in Ukraine should be based on respect for sovereignty and full, in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter, restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also invites Lula da Silva to visit Ukraine and get acquainted with the true nature of Russia’s aggression.

By the way, Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to Brazil to sell some types of weapons. Recall that in preparation for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazil purchased 34 anti-aircraft guns from Germany to protect its skies. And when the German government appealed to the government of Brazil with a request to transfer to Ukraine unused previously obtained German ammunition, Brazil refused to do so. It did not respond positively to two requests from Ukraine for the sale of certain types of weapons, including armored vehicles, aircrafts, air defense systems, mortars, sniper rifles, automatic weapons. They say this contradicts the Brazilian foreign policy doctrine, because its guiding principle is the principle of remaining “friend to all”. By the way, for some reason, this principle was not mentioned in 2014, when, with the beginning of the war in Yemen, Brazil supplied Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with more than 21 thousand tons of weapons and ammunition worth 680 million US dollars, including cluster munitions. So, such a “principled” position of Brazil towards Ukraine can be regarded as openly pro-Russian.

…Apart from China, the Brazilian leadership had a number of meetings with Russian leaders. Thus, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Brazilian President Celso Amorim visited Moscow in March 2023, and on April 17, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the RF S. Lavrov arrived in Brazil. The head of the Ukrainian Brazilian Central Representation (RCUB) Vitorio Sorotyuk made many comments on this topic to the country’s leading media, and anti-Russian protests erupted in Brasilia and Sao Paulo. In a statement, the Ukrainian Brazilian Central Representation appealed to the Brazilian government with a request “not to betray hopes”’ of about 600,000 Brazilians of Ukrainian origin. “The body, soul and blood of Ukraine are part of Brazil, and it is expected that the actions of the Brazilian government will be responsible”, the statement says. Ukrainians in Brazil also demand to put pressure on Russia until the complete withdrawal of troops from Ukraine. “Brazil should demand from Russia withdrawal of its troops from Ukraine, since international relations must be carried out in good faith”, Vitorio Sorotyuk said.

As for Brazil’s relations with Russia. Russia is considered a serious supplier of fertilizers to Brazil. Therefore, it is no coincidence that Lavrov and the Brazilian side discussed deepening bilateral trade and economic relations. For example, the trade turnover between Russia and Brazil last year reached a record $9.8 billion. Russian exports to this region grew last year by 3.8 %, and grain exports — by 48.8 %.

In addition to being greeted by protesters in Brazil under Ukrainian flags, some activists brought banners reminding that trial in The Hague awaits Russian war criminals. Ukrainian activists also held a protest meeting in front of the Russian Consulate in Sao Paulo. They also came there under Ukrainian flags and with banners that read: “Lavrov, The Hague is waiting for you”, “Russia is a murderer”, and there were calls for Russia and the Russian dictator to get out of Ukraine.

During a press conference with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, the Russian minister cynically stated that Russia is interested in ending the war, which he called the “Ukrainian conflict”, “as soon as possible”.

If we talk about Lavrov’s voyage, his Latin American tour on April 17–21 is not limited to Brazil. He will visit three more Russia-friendly countries — Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. Of course, they support Russian aggression in Ukraine. Nicolás Maduro expressed his full support for Putin at the beginning of hostilities in 2022, and Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel personally reaffirmed his loyalty to the Kremlin.

It should be noted that all Latin American countries are parties to the Rome Statute, so Putin’s arrival in those countries is impossible. By the way, the BRICS summit, where Russia should chair in 2024, has been moved from Brazil to Kazan.

…This is how Brazil returns to big international politics. Its ambitious goals are clear. However, such behavior of the Latin American giant cannot help causing sharp criticism in the United States, which will negatively affect their bilateral relations.

It is a pity that Ukraine, having good relations with Brazil for a long time, a joint space program, has not been able to persuade it that we need support in confronting Russian aggression.