Brazil intends to buy as much diesel as it can from Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine and sanctions on Moscow, Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Alberto Franco França told the UN on Tuesday.
This statement comes following an announcement by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that an agreement is “almost” on the verge of being reached on this subject with Russia.
“We must be sure to have enough diesel for the agro-industry and for the Brazilian drivers”explained the minister to journalists on the sidelines of a meeting of the UN Security Council chaired by Brazil.
Russia has been under sanctions from the European Union and the United States since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, but several countries around the world have chosen not to apply them, driving a wedge into the international unity desired by Washington to isolate Moscow and condemn the war. Brazil is “a strategic partner” from Russia, a country on which it is heavily dependent for fertilizers, recalled the Minister. Faced with the problem, not so much of the availability of oil as of the lack of refining, which has reduced reserves in the world, Brazil “seeking security” in terms of supply and “Russia is part” of these reliable suppliers, added the head of Brazilian diplomacy.
Faced with escalating fuel prices and the approach of the October presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro – close to Vladimir Putin – announced on Monday that he was on the verge of concluding an agreement to buy diesel from Russia , despite international sanctions.