RIO DE JANEIRO, February 1. /TASS/. The United States is putting pressure on Brazil in a bid to have President Jair Bolsonaro’s upcoming visit to Russia cancelled, the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported, citing Brazilian Foreign Ministry sources.
According to the paper, Washington’s aim is to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the current situation in Russia-NATO relations and Ukraine-related developments. The report says the US diplomats expressed their concerns about the timeframe of the visit, because, in their opinion, the meeting of the Russian and Brazilian meeting would signal Brazil’s support to Russia’s policies in eastern Europe and legitimize what Washington sees as violations of the international law.
This was the message conveyed during US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s phone conversation with Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Franca on January 30, Folha de Sao Paulo said.
The paper said that, according to US President Joe Biden’s administration, the cancellation of Bolsonaro’s visit would demonstrate Putin that he would face a diplomatic isolation if Russia refuses to reduce its military presence near the Ukrainian border. A similar message was conveyed to Argentina, whose president Alberto Fernandez is to visit Russia this week.
In turn, the foreign ministry of Brazil tried to persuade its US partners that the visit to Moscow should not be viewed in the geopolitical context, because issues to be raised during the talks are based on "broad bilateral agenda of the Russian-Brazilian relations."
Bolsonaro reaffirmed on Monday that he was not planning to raise the issue of Russia-NATO relations and the Ukrainian situation during his visit. A number of Brazilian media criticized the planned visit lately, saying that it would be untimely amid the current developments.
The US embassy in Brazilia reaffirmed the US Department of State’s stance to Folha de Sao Paulo, saying that the United States, Brazil and other democratic countries have a responsibility to uphold diplomatic principles and the rule-based order, and should deliver this message to Russia at every opportunity.
The West and Kiev have recently been echoing allegations about Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded", serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such claims and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have serious consequences.