RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The foreign ministers of Brazil, Carlos Alberto França, and Argentina, Santiago Cafiero, met this Friday, July 8, with their Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in two bilateral meetings on the margins of the G20 meeting, held in Indonesia and marked by the fragmentation of the attending countries.
Earlier in the afternoon, Lavrov held a closed-door meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali with the Brazilian foreign minister, in which they discussed the “strengthening” of ties between the two countries, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“During the conversation, which took place under a constructive atmosphere typical of Russian-Brazilian contacts, our focus on further strengthening strategic partnerships between the two countries was confirmed,” the note stressed.
The ministers also had an “interesting exchange of views” on the issues that are at the top of the “international agenda”, according to the Ministry, which, however, avoided mentioning the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has marked the discussions at the G20 Foreign Affairs meeting.
The Russian Foreign Minister also held a meeting with his Argentine counterpart and the high representatives of the Indian diplomacy, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and the Foreign Minister and host, Retno Marsud.
The Russian minister’s bilateral meetings with Brazil and Argentina took place on the margins of the tense multilateral meeting of the heads of global diplomacy, marked by divisions among the diplomats of the world’s twenty wealthiest economies.
The day before, G7 ministers (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, and the United States) boycotted Thursday’s welcome dinner in protest at Lavrov’s participation.
Since Russia’s military operation in Ukraine on February 24, Brazil and Argentina, which together with Mexico are the only Latin American members of the G20, have adopted a position of neutrality and avoided openly condemning the armed conflict in Eastern Europe.
The two South American nations, whose economies are partly dependent on Russia, advocate a “peaceful resolution” of the conflict but did not support a February 25 statement by the Organization of American States (OAS), which “strongly condemned the illegal and unjustified invasion” by Russia.
The foreign ministers of the G20 (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union) are meeting in Bali to discuss the “challenges” facing the world, such as the food and energy crisis unleashed by Moscow’s aggression against Kiev.
With information from EFE