On Sunday, Lula told reporters in Abu Dhabi that two nations – both Russia and Ukraine – had decided to go to war, and a day earlier in Beijing said the U.S. must stop “stimulating” the continued fighting and start discussing peace. Earlier this month, he suggested Ukraine could cede Crimea to end the war, which the spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, and others rejected.
After meeting Brazil’s foreign minister on Monday, Lavrov told reporters in a short press conference that the West has engaged in “a rather tough struggle” to maintain its dominance in world affairs, including economics and geopolitics.
“As for the process in Ukraine, we are grateful to our Brazilian friends for their excellent understanding of this situation’s genesis. We are grateful (to them) for striving to contribute to finding ways to settle it,” Lavrov said.
Lula’s recent comments, particularly ascribing any blame to Ukraine for Russia’s invasion in Feb. 2022, run counter to the position held by the European Union, the U.S. and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And a ceasefire is portrayed as an opportunity for Russian forces to regroup and negotiate the concession of occupied territories that Ukraine still aims to recover. Zelenskyy told The Associated Press last month that a loss anywhere at this stage in the war could put Ukraine’s hard-fought momentum at risk.
Brazil’s foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, told reporters that Russia accounts for one-quarter of the South American nation’s fertilizer imports, and that he and Lavrov discussed measures to guarantee the influx. He also reiterated that Brazil sees sanctions against Russia as causing negative impacts for the global economy, particularly developing nations, and that Brazil supports an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
Both men will meet with Lula in the afternoon, according to the foreign ministry’s website.
As part of his effort to end the war, Lula also has withheld munitions to Ukraine, despite a request from Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Lula has said that sending supplies would mean Brazil entering the war, which he seeks to end.
There were already indications that Moscow had appreciated Lula’s stance. One of roughly 50 leaked classified documents on the platform Discord that have been viewed by the AP said that, as of late February, Russia’s foreign affairs ministry supported Lula’s plan to establish a club of supposedly impartial mediators, as it “would reject the West’s ‘aggressor-victim’ paradigm.” The item cited electronic surveillance as the source.
Critics have argued that Brazil’s position aims to avoid confronting a key supplier of fertilizer for its soybean plantations, exports from which are largely destined for China. Both Russia and China hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, and Brazil for decades has sought to join them. Lavrov told reporters on Monday that Russia is backing Brazil’s bid.
Vinicius Vieira, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank, said Lula’s comments on Ukraine have been “badly calibrated” and that saying Kyiv should cede Crimea would appear to favor Russia.
“The issue of fertilizers is fundamental, but that would be well resolved with Brazil staying neutral, calling all sides to speak, but without saying Ukraine owes something to Russia,” Vieira said.
After his stay in Brazil, Lavrov will travel to Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
In an article published on the website of Russia’s Foreign Ministry, as well as in Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo and Mexican magazine Buzos, Lavrov noted that Russia favored strengthening cooperation with Latin American countries “on the basis of mutual support, solidarity and consideration of each other’s interests … in the spirit of strategic partnership.”
He appeared to cast the countries’ trade relationship — notably that between Russia and Brazil, especially concerning fertilizers — as a backdrop and source of leverage for possible discussions regarding Brazil’s continued refusal to provide weapons to Ukraine, which Moscow would like to ensure.
Lavrov also stressed that Moscow’s ties with countries such as Brazil are crucial to the foundation of a multipolar world order.
He reiterated that position on Monday.
“We are united by a common desire to promote the formation of a more just, truly democratic, polycentric world order, which would be based on the fundamental international legal principle of the sovereign equality of states,” Lavrov told reporters. “We see this as a guarantee that multipolarity will be fair and will reflect the interests of all states without exception, and not just one group of countries.”
Manenkov reported from Tallinn, Estonia. AP journalist Elise Morton contributed from London.
