Russia has submitted a request for support from the Brazilian government to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the G20 after suffering sanctions from Western nations over the invasion of Ukraine, according to a letter obtained by Reuters.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov wrote to Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, asking for “Brazil’s support to avoid political accusations and attempts at discrimination in international financial institutions and multilateral forums”.
“Behind the scenes, there is work going on at the IMF and the World Bank to limit or even expel Russia from the decision-making process,” Siluanov wrote.
The letter, which makes no mention of the war in Ukraine, is dated March 30 and was transmitted to Guedes by the Russian ambassador in Brasília on Wednesday (14).
“As you know, Russia is going through a challenging period of economic and financial turmoil caused by sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies,” said the Russian minister.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week that the US would not attend any G20 meetings if Russia were present, citing the invasion.
Nearly half of Russia’s international reserves have been frozen and foreign trade transactions are being blocked, including those with economic partners in emerging markets, Siluanov said.
“The United States and its allies are promoting a policy of isolating Russia from the international community,” he added.
Siluanov also said that the sanctions violate the principles of the Bretton-Woods agreement, which created the IMF and the World Bank.
“We consider that the current crisis caused by unprecedented economic sanctions adopted by the G7 countries could have lasting consequences unless we take joint action to resolve it,” he wrote to Guedes.
President Jair Bolsonaro, who visited Moscow just days before the invasion of Ukraine, kept Brazil neutral in the crisis and did not condemn the invasion, drawing criticism from the US government.
Bolsonaro expressed solidarity with Russia when he visited President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on February 16, about a week before the invasion began.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos França said in March that Brazil opposes the expulsion of Russia from the G20, as requested by the United States.
“The most important thing would be, at the moment, that all these forums – the G20, the WTO, the FAO – can be fully operational. And in order for it to function fully, it would need to have all countries, including Russia,” France said at a Senate hearing on March 25.
Source: CNN Brasil
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