RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian government is ruling out the adoption of economic sanctions against Russia. The evaluation at the Planalto Palace, the President’s office, endorsed by the Brazilian diplomatic corps, is that the sanctions will aggravate the world economic situation, especially of the less developed countries, such as Brazil.
In addition, there is the view that unilateral sanctions are illicit and incompatible with the principles of the United Nations Charter. However, there has been no indisposition from the countries that lead the sanctions, such as the United States, Japan, and the European Union, regarding the Brazilian position on rejecting sanctions against Russia, according to government sources.
According to these sources, this has been a historical Brazilian position, for example, by condemning U.S. sanctions on Cuba. More recently, the Brazilian ambassador to the United Nations, Ronaldo Couto Filho, positioned himself against sanctions against Yemen, involved in conflict with neighboring countries.
On another front, Brazil has also spoken out against a draft resolution presented by France and Mexico at the UN Security Council that deals with humanitarian issues in the war in Ukraine.
Negotiations on this project are stalled, according to a source. The reason is that the United States and the United Kingdom have been pushing a text considered highly condemnatory to the Russians. Other countries, such as China, Russia, and France, have advocated something in a lesser tone against the Russians.
Brazil has positioned itself in this debate on the side of these countries, that is, in the defense that the text needs to be balanced and focus more on meeting the needs of the Ukrainian population than on criticizing Russia.