Brazil not interested in Russia sanctions – ambassador

Brazil does not recognize Western sanctions imposed on Russia and is instead looking to increase its business ties with the country, Brasilia’s ambassador to Moscow, Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares, has said. 

In an interview with the RBK news outlet published on Monday, the diplomat noted that Brazil only recognizes sanctions issued by the UN Security Council, meaning it does not comply with restrictions imposed by some countries on Russia.   

Brazil therefore has “normal trade relations” with Moscow and is focused on expanding bilateral commerce, Soares added. 

He admitted that sanctions had created “a number of problems” regarding payment, logistics, and insurance, but stated that Russia-Brazil bilateral trade had nonetheless reached record levels.  

Given that some countries have stopped trading with Russia, Soares argued it is the ideal time to be “creative to take advantage of the opportunities we have,” suggesting that Russia and Brazil should work to further increase trade turnover. 

Moscow has insisted that Western sanctions imposed in response to its military operation in Ukraine have not had the intended effect. Last month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the restrictions as “not so painful” for Russia and said they had backfired on those who introduced them. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has suggested that EU companies have lost at least €250 billion (around $265 billion) due to Western sanctions on Moscow, arguing that even these figures were “very conservative estimates.”