President Lula refused to supply tank ammunition requested by Germany. Alberto Fernández, faithful to Argentina’s position of neutrality, also recalled for his part not to consider arms deliveries.
Some Latin American countries are attached to their neutrality. According to the Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulonewly elected Brazilian President Lula da Silva has rejected the German government’s request to provide Leopard-1 tank ammunition for delivery to Ukraine.
While the head of the Brazilian army Julio Cesar Arruda praised the economic interests of such a delivery, the Brazilian president opposed such an operation, arguing “that it was not worth provoking the Russians“, details the newspaper Folha. This decision by the new Brazilian head of state would have come the day before the dismissal of Julio Cesar Arruda from his command post.
In a difficult internal political context, two weeks after the attacks against centers of power in Brasília by the nationalist ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian government maintains a position of neutrality in the conflict in Ukraine, even if the country has condemned the Russian invasion at the UN. Also according to the Brazilian daily, Germany had already unofficially probed the Brazilian government of Jair Bolsonaro last year to obtain ammunition for the old anti-aircraft tank Gepard sent to Ukraine, Brazil still operating this model.
Brazil is heavily dependent on Russian fertilizer imports for its agro-industry, and has refused since the first day of the Russian invasion to adopt Western sanctions against Moscow. The country, with its new president, is faithful to its traditional non-alignment. And Lula thus joins his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, despite opposing political positions, on the conviction that it is necessary to show indulgence towards Vladimir Putin.
Argentina on the same line
The Russian president had also congratulated Lula on his election in October, saying he wanted a “constructive cooperation in all areas“. And Lula drew criticism when he said in December that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “equally responsibleof the conflict than Vladimir Putin. Brazil is not the only one to maintain this position vis-à-vis Russia. Argentina also condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the UN but did not adopt economic sanctions against Moscow either.
Argentinian President Alberto Fernández said this Saturday in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who is visiting Buenos Aires, hoping for the “end hostilities as soon as possible“consecutive to”Russia’s invasion of Ukrainian territory“. “Russia must understand the damage it is causing in the southern hemisphere“, he added, referring to the repercussions of the war on “food prices and hunger“.
However, the Argentine president clarified that his country would not deliver arms to Ukraine. He declined to comment on Germany’s recent decision to supply tanks to Ukraine and stressed that “Argentina and Latin America do not plan to send arms to Ukraine or another place of conflict“.
Other Latin American countries are also refusing to deliver weapons to Ukraine, even if the United States insists on recovering the old Soviet equipment present on the continent, even if it means replacing it with new ones, according to recent statements by US General Laura Richardson. The daily Folha suggests that Colombia recently refused to deliver old Soviet-made Mi-9 and Mi-17 helicopters.
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