A president who, amid an unprecedented Russian military deployment on the Ukrainian border, expresses solidarity with Moscow and refers to Vladimir Putin as a peace-seeker. A deputy who compares the Russian’s actions to the militaristic expansion of Nazi Germany and advocates that the West arm Kiev to fight the invaders. And the chancellery that promotes a rhetorical juggling act to, at the same time, condemn an aggression against Ukrainian territory without directly blaming Russia.
The different manifestations of Brazilian authorities about the tension in eastern Ukraine — which culminated in the Russian invasion this Thursday (24) — highlighted the difficulty of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) administration in coordinating a response to the biggest security crisis on the European continent. since World War II.
They also left foreign diplomats working in Brasilia wondering who they should listen to in order to understand the federal government’s position in relation to the outbreak of conflict.
The main communication noise occurred during Bolsonaro’s official visit to Moscow, on February 16.
At that time, the United States and Western allies already denounced the deployment of more than 150,000 Russian troops on the borders with Ukraine. The Americans even asked Bolsonaro to postpone the trip, but this possibility was always ruled out by the president and the Itamaraty.
Diplomats heard by sheet assess, on condition of anonymity, that the trip of a Brazilian president to Russia —strategic partner and BRICS partner— should not be a problem, even at a time of tension.
The fear has always been that Bolsonaro would make a statement that would be interpreted as Brazil’s endorsement of Russian military mobilization. That’s what ended up happening.
Although generic, the statement expressing solidarity with Russia — without specifying the aspect of the demonstration — and the characterization of Putin as someone who seeks peace were read as Brasilia’s approval of the Kremlin’s actions.
For the US and allies, it was not a totally peripheral issue, since Brazil currently occupies a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, the main international body where the issue is debated.
In light of Bolsonaro’s statements, the Itamaraty spent a considerable amount of time and effort assuring Western diplomats that the government had not aligned itself with Moscow.
With the president’s return to Brazil, the government’s position in the face of the escalation of tensions began to be centered on Brazil’s ambassador to the UN, Ronaldo Costa Filho.
In the demonstrations at the Security Council, Costa Filho has tried to balance between opposing the threat against the territory of a UN member, in this case Ukraine, without pointing the finger at the Kremlin.
On Wednesday night (23), the Brazilian diplomat said that “the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of a UN member is unacceptable”.
While it is harsh language in relation to previous demonstrations, Costa Filho did not directly mention the Russian government and steered clear of American rhetoric and that of European allies that directly blame Putin for violating international law.
The Itamaraty considers it counterproductive to criticize Moscow. Diplomats also say that a more aggressive speech against Putin is something great powers can afford; Brazil does not.
In his speeches at the UN, Costa Filho continues to emphasize that Brazil defends a negotiated solution.
On Thursday morning (24), however, Vice President Hamilton Mourão (PRTB) presented an interpretation of the conflict that was widely critical of Russia, which goes against the conduct that the Brazilian Foreign Ministry has adopted.
“There has to be use of force, really support for Ukraine, more than what is being put on. That’s my view. If the western world just lets Ukraine fall to the ground, Moldova will be next, then the Baltic States and so on. Just like Hitler Germany did in the late 1930s”, declared the deputy.
Mourão’s speech generated unease among Russian diplomats with the Bolsonaro government, mainly because the vice-president is co-chair of the Brazilian-Russian High-Level Cooperation Commission.
Mourão took a public rebuke from Bolsonaro for his statements. In his weekly live this Thursday, Bolsonaro disallowed the vice and said that he meddled in matters that are not his responsibility.
“Article 84 of the Constitution says that whoever speaks on the subject is the President of the Republic, [que] His name is Jair Messias Bolsonaro. With all due respect to the person who said that — and I saw the images, he really said it — is saying something that he shouldn’t, it’s not his responsibility. It’s up to us,” he said.
“We are for peace, we want peace. We traveled in peace to Russia, we made exceptional contact with President Putin, we settled the fertilizer issue for Brazil.”
For a country that has had its stance on the conflict questioned by international partners, a good start would be to internally unify the discourse on what the Bolsonaro government thinks about the crisis in Ukraine.
