The Jair Bolsonaro government (PL) plans to endorse this Friday (25) a resolution to be presented at the UN Security Council that condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops.
The text is still under negotiation and should be analyzed at the session called for 3 pm, New York time (5 pm in Brasília).
According to interlocutors, the tendency is for Brazil to support the resolution.
The Brazilian government’s intention to support the text was disclosed by CNN Brasil and confirmed by sheet.
Although so far the Itamaraty has avoided adopting a harsher language against Russia, the assessment among diplomats is that the offensive ordered by President Vladimir Putin in the early hours of Thursday (24) changed the situation.
If there is a concern to preserve Brazilian relations with Moscow, the aggression of a military power such as Russia against a weaker country was also considered unacceptable by Itamaraty.
In the diagnosis of the Bolsonaro government, an abstention at the moment could be interpreted as Brazilian support for the aggression commanded by Putin.
The result of the vote, however, must be symbolic. Russia has veto power in the Security Council and will not allow a draft against its interests to be passed.
The resolution is an initiative of the governments of the United States and Albania.
A version of the document revealed by CNN Brasil says that the current situation in Ukraine constitutes a violation of international peace and security; also condemns in the strongest terms Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and decides that the Kremlin must immediately stop the use of force against the eastern European country.
It also stipulates that the Russians must order the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of their troops from Ukrainian territory.
It is not yet defined whether this wording will be maintained.
In recent days, diplomats from the United States and other Western countries have had meetings with the Itamaraty to try to secure Brazil’s vote.
This Friday morning, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with Foreign Minister Carlos França.
According to the Itamaraty, the two ministers “debated the serious security crisis in Ukraine and the treatment of the issue in the UN Security Council”.
“The ministers discussed what can be done to end the ongoing military operations, restore peace and prevent the civilian population from continuing to suffer the consequences of the conflict,” Itamaraty said in a statement.
Brazil had been trying to balance itself between the position of the United States and NATO allies (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and that of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
The last demonstration by the Brazilian ambassador to the UN, Ronaldo Costa Filho, took place on Wednesday night (23). On the occasion, 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”.
Despite the critical terms, on the occasion Costa Filho did not directly mention the Russian government and avoided the rhetoric of Americans and European allies who directly blame Putin for the biggest military threat on the European continent since World War II.
The governments of the US and other Western countries have launched a total diplomatic isolation operation against Putin because of the invasion of Ukraine.
In this sense, American and European diplomats have already started contacts with Itamaraty to ask for Brazil’s vote in a debate scheduled for the next few days at the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva.
The Ukrainian government asked that the war in Ukraine be included on the council’s agenda. It is not yet known the exact content of the wording that the Ukrainians must circulate among the 47 members of the collegiate, but it is taken for granted that they will accuse the Putin government of promoting human rights violations in the conflict.
Although the main debates on the war in Eastern Europe take place in the Security Council, the diplomatic offensive in the body responsible for debating human rights may have more concrete results.
The Russians do not have veto power in the Geneva council and the Ukrainian resolution may determine, among other items, the formation of monitoring commissions for possible human rights violations.
These groups can travel to border regions, interview those affected by the crisis and, in the end, produce a report – which can serve as a basis for holding authorities accountable.
