Brazil tries to negotiate a message of peace for the wars in eastern Europe and the Middle East in the final G20 declaration. The issue has already been an impasse at other G20 summits and has become the focus of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), who is trying to seek international visibility with controversial proposals to end the ongoing conflicts. Brazil will host the summit of leaders of the 20 largest economies in the world on the 18th and 19th of this month, in Rio de Janeiro, and is still seeking consensus among countries on geopolitical issues.
“We are negotiating this topic with the other countries, the issue of the paragraphs on geopolitics that will appear in the declaration. This is an important topic […] the issue of the war in Ukraine and the Palestinian situation in the Middle East. There is a discussion between governments to reach a consensual language on these two topics”, reported Itamaraty this Thursday (8).
According to the ambassador and secretary of economic and financial affairs at Itamaraty, Mauricio Lyrio, the message that Brazil wants to convey in the final declaration is about “peace”. “The main message, of course, is that we need to reach peace. In relation not only to these conflicts [Ucrânia e Palestina]but to all conflicts”, stated the diplomat who is also the sherpa of Brazil in the G20 – designation used for the representative who conducts negotiations on behalf of the government.
The ongoing wars in the world have already been a topic of impasse in the last two G20 leaders’ summits. Presided over by Indonesia and India, respectively, they failed to reach a consensus on the war between Russia and Ukraine. In 2022, the bloc was largely divided on the issue. In the joint declaration, the countries admitted the existence of an impasse over the conflict and did not even mention the issue explicitly in the final declaration.
Last year, when India was at the head of the G20, the final declaration of the Leaders’ Summit did not condemn Russia for the invasion of Ukraine nor did it mention the need to withdraw Russian troops from the invaded country. In the document, signed by all members, the nations agreed that “all States must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition”, without making references to Russia.
Despite the impasse, the Brazilian government does not intend to give up paragraphs on the wars in Europe and the Middle East in the final G20 declaration. Lula, even though he failed in his attempts, has sought to position himself as a regional leader. In this sense, Brazil even launched, together with China, a peace treaty for Ukraine – a document rejected for taking Russian interests into account and still seen as an affront to the West.
Zelensky was not invited and Lavrov will represent Putin at the G20
Even though it is one of the topics discussed by the G20 since Brazil assumed the bloc’s presidency, the main actors in the discussion on the war in Eastern Europe will not participate in the meeting. Vladimir Putin is barred by the International Criminal Court and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, despite having requested to participate in the meeting, was not invited.
The Brazilian sherpa in the group, Maurício Lyrio, justified the lack of invitation to Zelensky due to the economic role of the G20. “In essence [o G20] is a group that was created to discuss international coordination in the economic area to face crises”, he said, highlighting that the bloc should not replace the role of the United Nations (UN) in promoting peace and preventing conflicts.
Vladimir Putin, dictator of Russia, was invited, but will not attend the meeting. This is because the Russian autocrat has an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Brazil, as one of the signatories of the Treaty of Rome, would have the obligation to arrest Putin if he came to the country. Last year, the Brazilian government even articulated the possibility of the dictator coming to Brazil without being arrested.
The country tried to negotiate a document at the United Nations (UN) providing for the possibility that heads of state with arrest warrants could participate in international meetings and summits without being arrested. The document, however, was not approved. Putin also recently declared that he would not come to Brazil because he “didn’t want to disrupt the work” of the forum.
Putin’s last visit to Brazilian territory was in November 2019. Unable to come to Brazil, the dictator will send his chancellor, Sergey Lavrov, to participate in the G20 leaders’ meeting in Rio de Janeiro. This would be Lavrov’s third visit to Brazil since President Lula took office for his third term.
Leaders from China and the United Arab Emirates meet with Lula in Brasília
Lula will also receive the leaders of China, Xi Jinping, and the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for meetings in Brasília. The leaders’ trip to the Brazilian capital takes place on the margins of the G20, a bloc of which the two countries are part.
Xi Jinping comes to Brasília to have bilateral meetings with President Lula. The Chinese autocrat arrives in the Federal District on Tuesday (19) and the agenda with Lula in Brasília takes place throughout Wednesday (20). The expectation is that Xi will try to negotiate a possible adhesion of the Brazilian government to the New Silk Road, a softpower Chinese company that provides financing to developing countries.
Brazil’s adherence to the program is not a consensus within the Brazilian government. There is fear that the country’s adherence to the project could disrupt its relationship with the United States – which poses even greater risks with the re-election of Donald Trump. There are wings in the government, however, that defend Brazil’s entry into the program and greater rapprochement with China. Xi Jinping must introduce such negotiations with Lula.
On November 21, Lula receives Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan for meetings in Brasília. The two leaders participate in the G20, in Rio de Janeiro, before traveling to the Brazilian capital. China and the United Arab Emirates are also Brazil’s partners in the BRICS, a bloc that Brazil will preside over next year.
In addition to Xi Jinping, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, has also confirmed his presence at the meeting. The Argentine president, Javier Milei, is also expected at the meeting. As found out by the People’s Gazette with members of the Argentine government, the libertarian’s visit to Brazil is being organized.
