In Brazil, the head of Russian diplomacy accuses the West of having made “unfounded accusations” against Moscow
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva received, on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who expressed the attitude of Western countries.
Mr. Lavrov “a statement of Russia’s positions regarding the conflict in Ukraine”, declared the Brazilian government in a press release on the bilateral meeting organized in Brasilia and concluded without comment to the press. President Lula reiterated that “Brazil continues to be willing to collaborate in efforts for peace in Ukraine”, in a message on.
Lula opposes Washington’s policy of isolating Moscow since the start of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, stressing that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Western powers share responsibility for the war.
Sergei Lavrov participated this week in a meeting of the heads of diplomacy of the G20 countries in Rio de Janeiro, the Latin American country holding its rotating presidency this year. Mr. Lavrov told the Russian press earlier on Thursday that “some of our Western colleagues at the G20 ministerial meeting pushed (…) to make unfounded accusations against the Russian Federation and to “Ukrainize” the agenda in every possible way”.
“These attempts were not supported by developing countries, by the majority of countries in the Global South”he assured.
Tensions between the West and Russia are exacerbated by the death in prison of Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, with Western states such as the United States accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of being responsible. Western countries “act at the same time as prosecutors, accusers, judges and executioners. This hysteria unleashed by Navalny’s death demonstrated this convincingly”Lavrov said.
For his part, American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also received this week by Lula, declared that “the fact that Vladimir Putin found it necessary to persecute, poison and imprison a man (Alexei Navalny) says a lot, not about the strength of Russia under Putin, but about its weakness”.
Mr. Blinken also noted“a strong and palpable desire among almost all members of the G20” to put an end to “Russian aggression and to ensure peace prevails, in a manner that respects the rights of Ukrainians to their future territorial integrity”.
