Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has expressed gratitude to Brazil for its approach in pushing for an end to hostilities in Ukraine — an effort that has irked both Kiev and the West, and prompted an unusually sharp rebuke from the White House.
After meeting Brazil’s foreign minister on Monday, Lavrov told reporters in a short press conference that the West has engaged in “a rather tough struggle” to maintain its dominance in world affairs, including economics and geopolitics.
“As for the process in Ukraine, we are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their excellent understanding of this situation’s genesis. We are grateful (to them) for striving to contribute to finding ways to settle it,” Lavrov said, sitting alongside his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine while proposing a club of nations including Brazil and China to mediate peace.
On Sunday, Lula told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations – both Russia and Ukraine – had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the US must stop “stimulating” the continued fighting and start discussing peace.
Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, and others rejected.
Lula’s recent comments, particularly ascribing any blame to Ukraine for Russia’s offensive, run counter to the position held by the European Union, the US and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Vieira told reporters that Brazil sees sanctions against Russia as causing negative impacts for the global economy, particularly developing nations, and that Brazil supports an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
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US blasts Brazil’s approach
Following the meeting, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby blasted Brazil’s approach to the war and for its officials having met Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin in person, while thus far only speaking to Ukrainian officials by phone.
“Brazil has substantively and rhetorically approached this issue by suggesting that the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace or that we share responsibility for the war,” Kirby told reporters in Washington.
“In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts.
“Both foreign ministers were meeting with Lula in the afternoon.
As part of his effort to end the offensive, Lula also has withheld munitions to Ukraine, despite a request from Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Lula has said that sending supplies would mean Brazil entering the war, which he seeks to end.
Some experts argue that Brazil’s position aims to avoid confronting a key supplier of fertiliser for its soybean plantations, exports from which are largely destined for China.
Both Russia and China hold permanent seats on the UN Security Council, and Brazil for decades has sought to join them. Lavrov told reporters on Monday that Russia is backing Brazil’s bid.
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