RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro argued Brazil’s “sovereignty” after being received Wednesday in Moscow by Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a visit contested by the United States in the midst of Western tensions with the Kremlin over Ukraine.
“Brazil is a sovereign country. We received information that some countries would like the event not to take place and some thought that the worst could happen during our presence here,” the ultra-conservative leader told the press, in reference to fears that Russia would invade its neighbor.
The relationship between Brazil and the United States has cooled since Republican Donald Trump left the White House, mainly due to Joe Biden’s criticism of Bolsonaro’s management of the Amazon.
“Our mission here is trade and peace,” Bolsonaro said, highlighting the interest of Brazil, an agricultural power, in Russian fertilizers.
The Russians “are obviously very interested in selling fertilizers and we are very interested in acquiring them,” he said.
Bolsonaro traveled with his Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Mines and Energy, who discussed several projects with their Russian counterparts, including for the “construction of small nuclear power plants.”
The Brazilian president, likely to seek reelection this year, emphasized his personal closeness to Putin and “the harmony of Russian values” with those of Brazilians, “particularly [those related] to Christianity and the defense of family values”.
The meeting spanned 2 hours and was “quite productive,” Bolsonaro said.
“Brazil is our main partner in Latin America,” Putin said for his part, also reporting a “constructive dialogue,” which will contribute to “further strengthening Russian-Brazilian relations.”
Unlike his recent meetings with several foreign leaders, who sat at the other end of a 20-foot long table, Bolsonaro was separated from his Russian counterpart by a coffee table.
This could be explained by the fact that the Brazilian President, known for his controversial stance on the pandemic and who is not vaccinated against the coronavirus, had undergone a Covid-19 test in Russia, according to Russian media.
“I am returning to Brazil with the feeling that [the visit] was more than a perfect marriage. I perceived this in the way I was received out of the official agenda, that this is also how [Putin] feels about Brazil,” Bolsonaro said.
In their joint statement after the meeting, the two countries stressed their “willingness to strengthen strategic partnership and deepen political dialogue.”
They also highlighted the “significant potential for cooperation” in the field of energy, as well as complementarities in the oil and gas, energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors.
Bolsonaro, whose country is a member of the BRICS (along with India, China, South Africa) with Russia, thanked Putin for his reiterated support for Brazil as a strong candidate for a permanent seat on a reformed UN Security Council, according to a statement released by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also thanked the Russian President for Brazil’s election to a non-permanent seat on the Security Council in the 2022-2023 biennium.
Before leaving for Moscow, Bolsonaro nodded to Ukraine and reported that his Foreign Minister had spoken on the phone with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister.
On Thursday, Bolsonaro will travel to Hungary, where he will meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another representative figure of the ultra-nationalist right that in recent years has been gaining ground in several countries.