Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Sunday that South America’s biggest country will remain “neutral” over Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, IgbereTV reports.
The far-right Bolsonaro, who undertook a controversial visit to Moscow on February 16 to meet with President Vladimir Putin just as Russian leaders were finalizing plans for their full-scale invasion, said his Russian counterpart confided some “secret” issues about Ukraine in their lengthy conversation.
Bolsonaro said he told Putin that Brazil will maintain a position of neutrality in the war, and that it remains “in favor of peace.”
“We are not going to take sides,” Bolsonaro told reporters. “We are going to continue our neutrality and help as much as possible in the search for a solution.”
Brazilians “want peace, but we cannot bring (the war’s) consequences here,” he added, recalling that Brazil is a major purchaser of Russian fertilizers.
Bolsonaro, who has expressed admiration for Putin, has largely avoided criticizing Russia over its aggression, even as Putin’s Ukraine operation has been broadly lambasted by the West
