Russian Ambassador to Brazil Alexei Kazimirovitch Labetski said Moscow was working to keep exporting fertilizers to Brazil amid trade restrictions linked to the imposition of sanctions against the country over the war in Ukraine.
The diplomat took advantage of his speech at a public hearing held by the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate this Tuesday (5) to present the Russian version of the news of bodies found on the streets and in mass graves in the city of Butcha, which was reconquered by Ukrainians over the weekend. .
President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Moscow troops for the deaths, speaking of genocide and war crimes. The episode heightened international pressure on Russia, making the Kiev outskirts a new epicenter of conflict tensions.
Vladimir Putin’s government denies responsibility for the deaths and has said it will present evidence that it was not involved in the case.
Labetski told the senators that he is interested in maintaining the supply of all types of fertilizers to Brazil, as well as in purchasing agricultural products from the country, citing Brazilian meat.
“We confirm our will to continue supplying fertilizers from all groups to the Federative Republic of Brazil,” he said. “In the current situation, when the illegitimate sanctions were taken against our country, we are open to work and create the new procedures necessary for logistics, which is very important, and new procedures for the payment of products, fertilizers and Brazilian agricultural products. supplied to Russia.”
Brazil, which is the fourth largest consumer market for fertilizers, imports about 85% of what it uses – Russia is the origin of 23% of this stock. With this percentage of imported fertilizers coming from Eastern Europe, the conflict in Ukraine has put agribusiness on alert due to the risk of product shortages.
On several occasions in recent weeks, the Ministry of Agriculture has highlighted that Brazil has a sufficient stock of fertilizers to reach the next crop, which begins to be planted in October. It is from there that the lack of imported products —especially phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen— worries.
Labetski also spoke about the episode in which Ukrainian forces said they found dead bodies after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kiev region.
Since the discovery and amid criticism from Western leaders, Russia has denied allegations of the massacre, saying the scenario was a hoax staged by Ukrainian radicals to damage the country’s image.
Analysis by the American newspaper The New York Times based on satellite images from the company Maxar showed that at least 11 bodies were still on the streets of Butcha during the Russian occupation.
“Personally, I have no confidence in the photos distributed yesterday and today, because the fact is that Russian troops left that city on the 30th, the day after the Istanbul talks. […] after the press, The New York Times. I don’t have confidence in the New York Times,” she said.
“On the Security Council [das Nações Unidas] our representative openly said that we are ready to present the recordings that certify that at the time of the departure of the Russians from Butcha there was nothing that was filmed. This is not the first attempt to present something invented by the ultranationalists and I am convinced that it will be proved.”
Volodymyr Zelensky visited the city this Monday morning (4), surrounded by security guards and wearing a bulletproof vest. The journalists said that the scene is of war crimes, that must “be recognized by the world as a genocide”. For the Ukrainian president, the case also becomes an obstacle for the peace negotiations, marked by a series of face-to-face and virtual meetings that are not very fruitful.
The discovery of the bodies has heightened international pressure on Moscow, with accusations of war crimes and calls for an investigation. This Monday, the European Union announced the opening of an investigation, together with Ukraine, to investigate the circumstances of the scenario seen in Butcha.
The war in Ukraine is now over 40 days old. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on February 24, ushering in the most serious military crisis in Europe since World War II.
