Dozens of diplomats from around the world boycotted two speeches by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, delivered during UN panels in Geneva on Tuesday (1st).
Videos of the protest show that the representative from Brazil did not join the group. Neither did diplomats from countries like Venezuela, Yemen, Algeria, Syria, Tunisia and China.
THE sheet questioned the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the country’s stance on the boycott, but received no response until the publication of this text. Brazil’s position, so far, has been ambiguous in relation to the war in Ukraine. While the country condemns the Russian invasion in international forums, President Jair Bolsonaro has repeated that the country’s position is one of neutrality.
Two video-recorded speeches by Lavrov were broadcast in Geneva. The first, at the Conference on Disarmament, and the second, at the Human Rights Council, both UN bodies. On both occasions, the chancellor used space to justify the war waged by Russia in Ukraine.
The first boycott took place as the Russian accused Ukraine of buying nuclear weapons. “The danger that the regime of [presidente ucraniano Volodimir] Zelensky represents for neighboring countries and for international security in general has increased substantially after the authorities installed in Kiev entered a dangerous game with plans to acquire their own nuclear weapons,” said the chancellor, in what has been seen by Western countries. as war propaganda.
The Disarmament Conference plenary was almost empty after more than 100 diplomats from 40 Western and allied countries withdrew from the room. Less than an hour later, at the Human Rights Council, the scene was repeated, and the diplomats who carried out the protest gathered with a Ukrainian flag.
A week before Russia invaded Ukraine, Bolsonaro visited Russian President Vladimir Putin, justifying the need to expand trade ties with Moscow, in an act condemned by countries like the US. In an interview this Monday (28), the Brazilian president took a stand against the economic sanctions applied to Russia, on the grounds that they could affect Brazilian agribusiness.
“We have to be cautious,” he said. “It’s not like some want me to punch the table and [diga que] ‘Brazil is on this side or that side’ and nothing more is said,” he added.
Bolsonaro said in the interview that he will not give “an opinion on this issue” and that Brazil has to understand that “it is a great country, but it has some limitations and must continue in this policy of getting closer to everyone”. On the same day, at the extraordinary UN General Assembly held in New York, Brazil condemned the Russian invasion, but at the same time questioned the sending of more weapons by Western powers to Ukraine, due to the risk of an escalation in the conflict. .
“The weakening of the Minsk Accords by all parties and the discrediting of security concerns voiced by Russia set the stage for the crisis we are seeing,” Brazilian ambassador to the United Nations, Ronaldo Costa Filho, said at the UN rostrum. “Let me be clear, however: this situation does not justify the use of force against the territory of a member state.”
Costa Filho called on United Nations bodies to work together to find solutions, as the crisis could have a much wider impact if not contained. “We are under a rapid escalation of tensions that could put all of humanity at risk. But we still have time to stop this.”
On Sunday (27), Bolsonaro had already said that Brazil “cannot interfere” in the conflict. “We cannot interfere. We want peace, but we cannot bring consequences here,” said the president at a press conference at a hotel in Guarujá (SP). On the same day, Costa Filho said he asked for caution before imposing punishments on Russia. For him, it cannot be ignored that some of the measures discussed “increase the risks of a broader and more direct confrontation between NATO and Russia”.
Two days earlier, the diplomat had been firm against Moscow, in a game of bite and blow. “The Council must react quickly to the use of force against the territorial integrity of a member state. A line has been crossed, and this council cannot remain silent,” he said before the vote on the text.
