Brazil’s Bolsonaro and Ukraine’s Zelensky talk about grain exports

On Monday, July 18, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the export of grains was the subject of conversation with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party – PL) this morning.

The Ukrainian president’s concern is about an international food crisis because of the conflict with Russia. He also says he has asked “partner” countries to adopt sanctions against the Russian country. The Brazilian government has not released details about the conversation.

“I had a conversation with the President of Brazil @jairbolsonaro. I informed him about the situation on the front. We discussed the importance of resuming grain exports to avoid a global food crisis caused by Russia. I call on all partners to join sanctions against the aggressor,” Zelensky said on his Twitter profile.

As of this Monday morning, Bolsonaro had not commented on the connection with Zelensky. On Sunday, July 17, he said the conversation would only be attended by Foreign Minister Carlos França and an interpreter. He also noted the content of the call could not “leak” because it is a “state secret”.

The call was a request from Zelensky, according to Bolsonaro. On Sunday, he said he would give his opinion on the war between Russia and Ukraine if asked about it.

“I don’t know what he will tell me. But I intend to tell him what I think if he asks me something, where we can collaborate, I will give my opinion; I will only give it if he asks,” Bolsonaro said.

Last week, Bolsonaro declared, without giving details, that he had the “solution” to the war and would talk about it with Zelensky. He indicated that the solution could be surrender by mentioning the 1982 conflict between the UK and Argentina, in which Argentine troops surrendered.

“I will give my opinion to him what I think—the solution to the [war] case. I know what the solution to the case would look like. But I’m not going to advance it. How did Argentina’s war with the United Kingdom end in 1982? It’s that way,” he said on Thursday, July 14.

Bolsonaro says the government has adopted a position of “balance” in relation to the conflict in Eastern Europe. The head of the Executive met with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, a few days before the beginning of the war. On June 27, Bolsonaro also spoke with Putin by phone.

The government is negotiating the importation of diesel from Russia. The country is the target of a series of economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine started in February this year. The production of Brazilian agribusiness and the dependence on fertilizers coming from Russia are the main arguments repeated by Bolsonaro to maintain relations with the Russian country.

After the war in Europe started, the president announced he would not take sides in the conflict.

In February, Bolsonaro said that the war would end “quickly.” According to him, the conflict would be won by whoever had the most “cannon” in reference to Russian military power.

At the time, he also said that he had no reason to talk to Zelensky. “Some want me to talk to Zelensky, the president of Ukraine. I, for the moment, have nothing to talk about with him,” he said on February 28.

With information from Poder360