President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) met this Friday (9) with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Kremlin in Moscow. During the meeting, Lula criticized the tax policy of US President Donald Trump and highlighted Brazil’s interest in deepening partnerships with Russia in various areas, including defense, technology, energy and commerce.
Lula is in Russia to attend the 80th anniversary celebration of Victory Day, an event that marks the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union and the allies in World War II. Organized by the Russian government ,.
At the meeting with Putin, Lula pointed out that the recent US decision to adopt tariff barriers to products from more than 180 countries, including Brazil, undermines the principle of free trade and multilateralism. “The latest decisions announced by the president of the United States to tax commerce with all countries in the world, unilaterally, play the great idea of free trade,” said the Brazilian president.
Lula stressed Brazil’s interest in expanding trade with Russia, which currently has a flow of US $ 12.5 billion, but is “quite deficient” to Brazil. One of the main imported products are fertilizers, essential for Brazilian agribusiness. The Brazilian president also mentioned areas such as defense, space technology and education as promising sectors for cooperation between the two countries.
“This visit here is to strengthen and reinforce, with much more strength, our construction of a strategic partnership. Brazil has political, commercial, cultural and scientific-technological interests with Russia,” said Lula.
Lula’s visit to Russia generated criticism of the Brazilian opposition ,. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also criticized Lula’s position, stating that the Brazilian adopts a pro-Russian stance.
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Lula defends a negotiated solution for the conflict, but his proposal has found resistance between Western countries and the Ukrainian government. The Brazilian president stressed that Brazil, as a member of BRICS – a group that also brings together Russia, China, India, South Africa and other emerging countries – is interested in promoting dialogue and balance in international relations.
