(CNSNews.com) – The White House said on Monday Brazil was “parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda” about the role of the West in the conflict in Ukraine, unusually sharp criticism for a country which the Biden administration routinely describes as a key “partner.”
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby criticized Brazil for “suggesting that the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace or that we share responsibility for the war.”
“In this case, Brazil is parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda without at all looking at the facts,” he told reporters.
Kirby said the administration hoped President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and others would encourage Russia to stop bombing Ukraine, end war crimes and atrocities, and withdraw its forces from Ukraine.
During a high-profile visit to China, da Silva said on Saturday that the U.S. should “stop encouraging war and start talking about peace.” In a similar remark in the UAE, the next leg of his trip, he said that “Europe and the United States continue to contribute to the continuation of this war.”
While in China, da Silva also proposed that countries like Brazil and China should mediate an end to the fighting. In doing so he aligned himself with an approach taken by Beijing which has drawn skepticism in Western capitals, since China while purporting to be neutral has effectively sided with Russia in the dispute.
Kirby said the U.S. has no “objection to any country that wants to try to bring an end to the war” in Ukraine – a war which he said could end “today if Mr. Putin would stop attacking Ukraine and pull its troops out.”
He also pointed to a recent suggestion by da Silva that Ukraine should consider ceding sovereignty over Crimea to Russia in order to end the war.
Kirby called the suggestion “simply misguided, especially for a country like Brazil that has voted [at the U.N.] to uphold the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
European Union foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano also called out the remarks.
“It is not true that the U.S. and the E.U. are helping to prolong the conflict,” he said. “The truth is that Ukraine is the victim of aggression, illegal aggression in breach of the U.N. Charter,” he said, and the U.S. and E.U. are “helping Ukraine to exercise its legitimate right for self-defense.”
‘Correct understanding’
On Monday, da Silva’s government hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on the first stop of a Latin America trip that includes Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, all of which sympathize with Moscow’s views on Ukraine and on European security.
Speaking alongside Lavrov in Brasilia, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira restated his government’s opposition to sanctions like those imposed by the West against Russia, saying “they have negative consequences for economies around the world, especially for developing countries.”
Lavrov thanked Brazil for its “correct understanding” of the origins of the situation in Ukraine.
He said Russia and Brazil were “united by a common desire to promote the formation of a more just, truly democratic, polycentric world order,” and reiterated Moscow’s support for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat for Brazil.
Later on Monday, Vieira said he did not agree “at all” with Kirby’s comments, adding “I don’t know how or why he came to that conclusion.”
“I can only say that Brazil and Russia this year marks 195 years of diplomatic relations with ambassadors in each country, and are two countries with a common history,” Brazilian media quoted him as saying.
Lavrov also met with Da Silva on Monday, and relayed an invitation from President Vladimir Putin to attend an economic forum in St. Petersburg in June.
‘New model of global governance’
Da Silva’s return to Brazil’s presidency this year marks a significant shift for Latin America’s largest country after four years of conservative rule, and comes at a time when China and Russia are accelerating their drive to develop counterweights to the U.S.-led West.
In an interview with Chinese state television during his recent visit, the Brazilian leader spoke of his desire to “create a new model of global governance.”
“China plays a very important role in today’s world. China should be considered in the new model,” he said. “Brazil should be considered. Countries such as Nigeria, Egypt, Mexico should be considered. India should be considered.”
Da Silva said he plans to continue to work for “global governance that can represent the political expectations of the global community.”
“I will continue to strengthen our relationship with China,” he said, then added that that “does not mean severing relations with the United States.”
The Biden administration regularly refers to Brazil as a “close” and “important” partner.
After Brazil reached an agreement with China to use their own currencies rather than the U.S. dollar in bilateral trade, a State Department spokesman said countries make their own decisions on such matters, but described Brazil as an “important partner of ours, an important partner as it relates to our priorities in the Western Hemisphere but also across the world.”
When Brazil’s decision to host two U.S.-sanctioned Iranian warships was raised during a State Department briefing last month, a spokesman in the course of commenting on the matter used the term “partner” more than a dozen times in relation to the Latin American country.
See also:
In China, Brazil’s President Calls For Alternative to US Dollar in International Trade (
WH on Brazil Hosting US-Sanctioned Iranian Warships: ‘Brazil is a Sovereign Country’ (Mar. 9, 2023)