A statement from Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sergei Lavrov will be in Brasília on Monday, where he will be received at the Itamaraty Palace by his counterpart, Mauro Vieira.
“We defend the strengthening of Russian-Latin American cooperation based on mutual support, solidarity and taking into account each other’s interests”wrote Lavrov in two articles published by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo and the Mexican magazine Buzos de la Noticia.
In his articles, which have been reproduced by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its website, Lavrov particularly emphasized the strategic relationship with Brasilia, Caracas, Havana and Managua.
“The rapidly changing geopolitical landscape opens up new opportunities for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and the countries of Latin America. The latter play an increasingly prominent role in the multipolar world.” underlined.
Lavrov assures that Moscow does not want Latin America and the Caribbean to become a space of hostility between powers, since it bases its foreign policy not on ideology, as was the case with the Soviet Union, but on pragmatism.
He mentioned that as an example despite sanctions and political pressure, Russian exports to the region increased by 3.8%, while wheat supplies increased by 48.8%.
The head of diplomacy noted that 27 Latin American countries have now signed visa-free arrangements with Russia and that the number of Latin American students studying at Russian higher education institutions has increased.
Last week, Lula da Silva, who is in China, said he would propose to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to promote dialogue between Russia and Ukraine and said the invaded country should cede Crimea.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, “cannot keep the country of Ukraine. Maybe Crimea will come up. But what he has invaded again, we have to reconsider,” Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in Brasília during a meeting with journalists.
In response, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman stated that Ukraine “does not trade with its territory”.
“Ukraine appreciates the efforts of the President of Brazil to find a solution to end Russian aggression,” Oleg Nikolenko said in his Facebook account.
Earlier this month, during the visit of the Brazilian Presidency’s Special Adviser on International Affairs, Celso Amorim, to Moscow, the Russian President invited his Brazilian counterpart to visit Russia.
On the other hand, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has offered Putin “full support” since the start of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia and Venezuela celebrated the 78th anniversary of diplomatic relations on March 14, ties strengthened with the arrival of the so-called Bolivarian Revolution in 1999.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel showed his support for Putin by visiting Russia in December 2022 and condemned the arrest warrant issued against the Russian President by the International Criminal Court.
Both the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, and the head of Russia’s largest oil company, Igor Sechin, recently traveled to the island.
In late March, Nicaraguan foreign minister Denis Moncada met with Lavrov in Moscow and defended Moscow’s right to guarantee its “integrity and security”.
Lavrov also awarded the Order of Friendship to Laureano Ortega Murillo, son of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
In Russia’s new foreign policy, characterized by growing political, military and economic antagonisms with the West over Ukraine, Latin America is one of the priority regions.
In this sense, Lavrov’s journey is part of the recent trips of the head of diplomacy to some twenty countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, from the Maghreb to the Sahel and the south of the continent.
Source: DN
