| Photo: Agência Brasil/Disclosure
14190533President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) rebutted the criticism he received for the neutrality adopted in the war between Russia and Ukraine and stated that their meeting with Putin, he solved the shortage of fertilizers in Brazil. The statements were made this Wednesday (07), in a meeting with supporters in front of the Alvorada Palace, in Brasília. “Go to Russia or not? If it depended on who is on my side, I would not go,” Bolsonaro said, declaring that he was advised to support Ukraine in the conflict. “I went to Russia. Solved the fertilizer issue. I got beat up a lot because I went to Russia. I’m on the side of peace. If I could solve the war, I would have solved it already”, declared the Brazilian president.
On Tuesday () the president of the Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Bolsonaro for not supporting the eastern European country in the face of the Russian invasion, which began in February. “I do not support his position of neutrality. I do not believe that anyone can remain neutral when there is a war in the world”, said Zelensky, in an interview broadcast by Jornal Nacional.14190533
He compared the moment with the context of the Second World War. “Many leaders were neutral at first. This allowed the fascists to swallow half of Europe and expand further and further, capturing all of Europe. This happened because of neutrality. No one can stand in the way. The war is not between Ukraine and Russia, it is a war of Russia against the Ukrainian people, because they are in our territory”, he said.14190533
On Monday (18), Bolsonaro and Zelensky spoke by phone and the Ukrainian president reported on Twitter that the dialogue mainly addressed the resumption of exports of grain produced in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia. Bolsonaro has defended a pragmatic stance by Brazil on the war in Ukraine – while he regrets the conflict, he has not adhered to the sanctions imposed on Russia by the West.
