The United States authorities are putting pressure on Brazil, urging it to introduce restrictions against Russia, Russian Ambassador to this Latin American country Alexei Labetsky said during an interview with RIA Novosti.

“We see this very well and are aware that the collective West, and above all Washington, is trying to convince the Brazilians that it is necessary to impose sanctions against our country.

So far, they have not achieved any effect,” the diplomat said.

Recall that after the start of the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that his country would remain neutral in this conflict.

And in July, the politician stated that the Western states did not achieve what they wanted as a result of imposing restrictions on Moscow.

On the contrary, they faced rising food inflation and problems in the energy sector, Bolsonaro noted.

In turn, the adviser to the second candidate for the post of head of state, Luis da Silva, former Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, in an August interview with Bloomberg, emphasized that if da Silva is elected president, he will also not support the sanctions policy directed against Russia.

Sanctions Front

Western countries and their allies imposed broad sectoral restrictions on Russia after the start of the NWO, and now the United States is taking active steps trying to persuade states that preferred to refrain from such actions to join the sanctions regime.

In particular, Washington is putting pressure on India, which is actively buying energy resources from the Russian Federation.

So, at the end of March, the former deputy national security adviser to the US president, Duleep Singh, during a trip to New Delhi, said that all countries expect “consequences” for not joining the sanctions regime against Russia.

“I came here on a friendly visit to explain the mechanisms of our sanctions and the importance of joining us, to express our common resolve and promote common interests.

And yes, countries that actively try to circumvent or offset sanctions will face consequences,” he said.

  • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin

  • RIA News

  • © Sergey Bobylev

According to him, the United States is interested in other countries not creating "mechanisms that support the ruble and undermine the financial system, which is based on the dollar."

It is worth noting that even before the start of the special operation, Washington tried to threaten New Delhi with sanctions for buying weapons from Russia.

Washington is also actively trying to influence Indonesia.

In particular, in April, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, at a meeting with her counterpart Sri Mulyani Indravati, said that in the framework of the global economy, Russia allegedly cannot continue to "do business as usual."

However, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said back in March that his country was not going to impose restrictions on Russia because of the situation around Ukraine.

At the same time, Washington is trying to put pressure on the developing countries of Africa.

Thus, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaking to reporters in the capital of Uganda in early August, warned African states about the consequences that await them in case of violation of the sanctions regime against the Russian Federation.

“Countries can buy Russian agricultural products, including fertilizers and wheat.

If the state decides to cooperate with Russia in the area on which sanctions are imposed, it will violate the sanctions regime,” the diplomat said.

In this case, according to Thomas-Greenfield, "there is a possibility that action will be taken against them."

"I Have My Problems"

President Vladimir Putin, commenting on the introduction of unprecedented restrictive measures against the country, has repeatedly noted that the West's expectation that restrictions would ruin the country's economy in a short time did not materialize.

The head of state stressed that the Russian authorities are step by step normalizing the economic situation in the country.

“First, we stabilized the financial markets, the banking system and the trade network, then we began to saturate the economy with liquidity and working capital to keep companies, employment and jobs resilient.

The gloomy forecasts regarding the prospects for the Russian economy, which sounded back in the spring, did not come true, ”Putin stated, speaking at SPIEF.

According to the head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry Vadim Kozyulin, many states are now acting in their own national interests, not joining the pressure on Moscow.

“Brazil remains neutral in this conflict.

It is an independent country that the United States is putting pressure on.

But Brazil is not the only state in the world that is under such pressure, and, of course, any sovereign government does not like this, ”the expert said.

In the search for new participants for its sanctions front, the United States primarily focuses on countries with pro-Western governments, Kozyulin added.

“But there are a large number of states that either cooperate with Russia and develop partnerships with it, or are neutral - they have their own problems, they do not want to take any side on this issue.

And there are many such countries.

And the United States is trying to put them under its banner, ”the interlocutor of RT explained.

  • Flags of the BRICS countries

  • AP

  • © Wu Hong/Pool

However, for neutral countries, joining the sanctions is fraught with economic and political costs, the analyst stressed.

“Not everyone can afford to object to the US.

However, Brazil is one of those countries that can afford it: it has its own fairly large economic potential and its own political ambitions.

In addition, Brazil is a member of the BRICS interstate association, which includes Russia.

And this organization has its own principles: it is not an organization of like-minded people in the full sense, but these countries have developed certain partnerships.

Brazil values ​​them,” the political scientist explained.

Looking for weaknesses

However, we should expect that the US will continue to put pressure on Brazil, India, Iran and other countries, Kozyulin predicts.

“Somewhere they will threaten sanctions, somewhere, on the contrary, they will try to win over with promises to ease the sanctions regime, for example, in the case of Iran and Venezuela,” Kozyulin added.

The United States continues to look for weaknesses, pressure on which can increase pressure on Russia, Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, explained in a conversation with RT.

“It's their job.

The US has special sanctions coordinators in the Treasury and the State Department.

They will always look for weaknesses where they can push through measures to contain Russia, ”the expert explained.

  • Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Russian President Vladimir Putin

  • RIA News

  • © Viacheslav Prokofiev

According to Bruter, Turkish banks have recently become one of such places, which refused to service cards of the Russian payment system MIR. 

“Because the financial market of borrowings is completely tied to the West.

In addition, Turkey is not in a very favorable economic situation, which is why they say: “Either you refuse to service MIR cards, or we refuse preferential short-term lending.”

And without short-term loans, Turkish banks will not survive,” the political scientist explained.

He believes that the United States will increase pressure on Russia, trying to win over the neutral and undecided countries, as well as the states of the so-called global South.

“Washington will try to completely stop all trade and economic relations with Russia, except for those that are beneficial to them and without which they cannot exist,” the expert concluded.