The United States is putting diplomatic pressure on Brazil to cancel President Jair Bolsonaro’s planned visit to Moscow. The meeting of Russian leader Vladimir Putin with his colleague is to take place in February.
According to the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, citing sources in the country’s Foreign Ministry, in this way Washington is trying to isolate Putin from the leaders of other states due to the current tension in relations between the Kremlin and NATO around Ukraine.
American diplomats told Brazil that if the meeting took place, it could be taken as a signal that “Brazil supports the Kremlin’s actions in Eastern Europe, legitimizes what the US considers a violation of international law.”
According to the publication, this was stated by the head of the State Department, Anthony Blinkena, in a telephone conversation with his Brazilian counterpart Carlos França.
Biden’s administration said canceling the visit would have demonstrated to the Russian president that he “would face diplomatic isolation unless there was a reduction in the military presence along the Ukrainian borders.”
Similar pressure is reportedly being exerted on Argentina and its President Alberto Fernandez.
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