RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to Globo, Brazil’s largest media company, Russia has officially asked for Brazil’s support in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the G20 at a time when Vladimir Putin rules the country is suffering from sanctions imposed by the West and led by the United States over the invasion of Ukraine.
The request was made in a letter from Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes. The document, obtained by GLOBO, reached the Economy Ministry this week.
“We ask for your support to avoid political accusations and discrimination attempts in international financial institutions and multilateral forums. We believe that now more than ever, it is important to maintain a constructive working climate and capacity for dialogue in the IMF, the World Bank, and the G20,” the letter reads in English.
It is a six-page document in which Russia complains about the sanctions and says it is in a “difficult period of economic and financial turmoil.”
“Almost half of the Russian Federation’s international reserves have been frozen, foreign trade transactions are blocked, including our emerging market partners. The document says that there are difficulties in meeting state obligations only due to the lack of access to our foreign exchange accounts,” the document says.
Western countries have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia to punish Putin for his military action in Ukraine.
The U.S. and European Union’s goal is to cut off Russia’s access to external funding sources. In the words of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, “We will make sure that Russia cannot get loans or other benefits in these institutions.”
In the letter to Guedes, Russia states that the United States “and its satellites” are pursuing a policy of isolating Russia from the international community.
“There has been enormous pressure on the Indonesian presidency not to invite us to the G20 meetings. Behind the scenes in the IMF and the World Bank, work is going on to restrict or even exclude Russia from the decision-making process. Advanced countries are also making negative statements and extremely distorted and biased assessments of the situation in Ukraine,” the Russian minister said.
Despite European and American pressure, Brazil has not joined the sanctions and does not plan to join them. However, in both the Security Council – where it holds a rotating seat for two years – and the General Assembly, Brazil has voted to condemn the invasion of Ukraine, albeit with a critical stance toward sanctions.
Source: Globo