Brazil’s president declares ‘solidarity’ with Putin

RIO DE JANEIRO — While Russia has troops at Ukraine’s borders, and Western powers have warned of an imminent invasion, President Vladimir Putin is nonetheless reaching out to make contacts in much of Latin America, particularly in Brazil.

Wednesday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who resisted domestic appeals as well as pressure from U. S. officials to cancel his visit to Moscow, sat knee to knee with Putin and declared that Brazil was in “solidarity” with Russia. Putin then named Brazil as Russia’s most important partner in Latin America.

Bolsonaro did not specify in what regard Brazil was in solidarity with Russia, but his comments and visit with Putin are certain to be interpreted as tacit support for Russia at a moment when the West is calling it a belligerent military power.

“We are in solidarity with Russia,” Bolsonaro told Putin. “We very much want to collaborate in many areas — defense, oil and gas, agriculture. The meetings are happening.”

The meeting reflected Putin’s apparent interest in forging stronger relationships in Latin America, far from Russia’s traditional sphere of influence. Putin in recent weeks has made calls to several Latin American leaders and has welcomed Argentine President Alberto Fernandez to the Kremlin. In their meeting, Fernandez said he is “consistently working to rid Argentina” of its dependence on the United States.

Putin’s meeting with Bolsonaro also hinted at how chilled relations between the United States and Brazil have become since Trump’s 2020 electoral loss. Bolsonaro first echoed Trump’s unproven claims that widespread fraud had undermined the presidential election. More than one year into Biden’s term, the presidents of the two largest democracies in the Western Hemisphere still have not spoken.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there were at least two high-level U.S. attempts to persuade Bolsonaro to cancel the trip. Bolsonaro was told that such a trip would grant legitimacy to Russia and make it look less isolated just when the West was unifying to forestall a potential Russian invasion. But Bolsonaro, reportedly discontented by what he perceived to be a chilly relationship with Washington, decided to push ahead with the trip.

The U.S. hopes Bolsonaro can give Putin the the right message.

“The United States and many other nations are deeply concerned about the destabilizing role that Russia is playing and its ongoing threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” a State Department official told the Miami Herald. “As democratic leaders, the United States and Brazil have a responsibility to stand up for democratic principles and the rules-based order. We hope Brazil will take this opportunity to reinforce this message in their conversations in Moscow.”

Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Washingtonbased Council of the Americas and a former State Department diplomat, said that Bolsonaro’s refusal to cancel the trip also opens up questions about consequences.

“The question that Washington has to ask is, if we have made a request that’s ignored, what are we prepared to do to try to ensure that future requests are not ignored?” he said. “I do think that it’s time to engage over time, to re-engage because it’s not helpful to the international community to go over and land at least rhetorical support to a dictator who’s threatening his neighbors.”

Neither Bolsonaro’s presidential office nor Brazil’s Foreign Ministry responded to requests for comment.

News of the Moscow meeting has dominated Brazil, where concerns over potential diplomatic repercussions have simmered for weeks. Brazilian officials repeatedly said Bolsonaro would steer clear of the Ukraine crisis. They said he wanted to talk about energy and agriculture. If Ukraine came up, Bolsonaro said he would support only peace, diplomacy and the sovereignty of all countries. Further seeking to show neutrality, the Foreign Ministry released a message touting Brazil’s relations with Ukraine.

The trip was nonetheless risky, said Felipe Loureiro, a historian at the University of Sao Paulo. “I’ve been saying that one of my biggest fears was that Bolsonaro could say something in this extremely tense moment that would go against Brazilian diplomacy,” he said. “And that’s exactly what he did.”

As soon as Bolsonaro entered Russian airspace, he brought up the military crisis. He posted a photo on Twitter of a CNN chyron showing news of a possible Russian withdrawal of troops from Ukraine’s borders. His allies then immediately jumped on the narrative, crediting Bolsonaro with averting a war. The hashtag #BolsonaroAvoidedAWar began to trend on social media. Former environment minister Ricardo Salles tweeted a fake Time magazine cover proclaiming that Bolsonaro had won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Analysts said Bolsonaro’s comments Wednesday will undermine the Brazilian government’s defense that it is not taking sides in the Ukraine crisis and again underscored the risks of conducting impromptu diplomacy at the highest levels.

“Ill-advised words or impulsive actions may have unintended questions,” said Mauricio Santoro, a political scientist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. “It was a mistake that will have negative repercussions in the West. … In the context of the current crisis, it may be interpreted as a statement of support of Putin in regard to Ukraine.”

Economically, analysts said, the decision to visit Russia makes little sense. Russia and Brazil have many business ties, and Brazil sells about $1.6 billion worth of goods every year to Russia. But Brazil sells about $31 billion in goods to the United States annually, far exceeding any business Brazil has with Russia.

But Loureiro said the talks left him troubled. For months, Bolsonaro has said the Brazilian electoral system will be pervaded by widespread fraud that will help his opponents. The only way he will lose, Bolsonaro has said in the past, is because the election is stolen. Loureiro said he does not believe Bolsonaro will give up power easily.