Brazil-Russia: Jair Bolsonaro's controversial visit to Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his counterpart Jair Bolsonaro in November 2019 (illustration image).
The visit of the Brazilian president in February 2022 is officially focused on the promotion of bilateral trade relations.
Pavel Golovkin POOL/AFP/Archivos
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is due to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in Moscow.
A visit that will take place in the midst of the Ukrainian crisis.
The United States has exerted pressure, according to various analysts, for the Brazilian to cancel this trip, officially centered on the promotion of bilateral trade relations.
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President Jair Bolsonaro left his country on February 14 for Russia, where he is expected today, for a controversial visit in the midst of the Ukrainian crisis, which Washington was unable to prevent and whose
timing
raised questions and perplexity. .
The invitation was issued by Moscow at the end of November 2021, when tensions were already setting in.
Jair Bolsonaro should be received at the Kremlin on Wednesday February 16 by his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, a "
strong man
" whom he admires.
"
Agribusiness
"
For Nicolas Dolo, a consultant based in Moscow, "
relations between Russia and Brazil are essentially linked to agribusiness, to agrifood, since Russia is a major exporter of potash, that is to say fertilizer to Brazil and conversely, Brazil is a fairly large exporter of meat.
»
“
What Brazilians are looking for
, he says,
is less to invest in Russia
stricto sensu
than to find certain specific products in Russia.
And the other aspect of what Brazilians are looking for in Russia are people with very specific know-how on major projects that are currently taking place in Brazil, particularly rail and aerospace.
We will see what this visit by President Bolsonaro will give, I think that a number of possibilities for new contracts, new horizons between the two countries will open up.
»
Reassure Kyiv
Brasilia nevertheless endeavored to reassure Kiev
via
a telephone conversation between the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos França, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.
For some analysts, writes AFP, the trip of the far-right president - who is also due to travel to the Hungary of his ally Viktor Orban on Thursday - could hardly have come at a worse time, and responds to political concerns interior.
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To read also: Brazil: alert on record deforestation in the Amazon
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