NYT: Ukraine appealed to Brazil with a big request for arms supplies, but it was ignored there
- Author:
- Oleksiy Yarmolenko
- Date:
Ukraine sent to Brazil at least two large lists of weapons that it would like to receive or purchase. But this request was ignored there.
The New York Times writes about it.
This list includes armored vehicles, aircraft, air defense systems, mortar shells, ammunition, small arms, etc. But Brazil refuses to supply weapons to Ukraine.
Germany also made a similar request at one time. Brazil bought German anti-aircraft Gepard self-propelled guns, and Germany wanted to buy shells for them from Brazil, but they refused if these ammunitions went to Ukraine.
Leaked Pentagon documents indicate that the US, Ukraine and partners are trying to find weapons in countries that have so far refused to help the Ukrainian army. But they mostly face rejections. For example, the president of Colombia Gustavo Petro stated that he repeatedly rejected the US requests to purchase Russian and Soviet-made weapons in order to transfer them to Ukraine.
Brazil could become a valuable arms supplier, as it is one of the largest producers of combat aircraft, which Ukraine now badly needs. The Ukrainian army is becoming dependent on the weapons of NATO member countries, which are quite expensive and difficult to maintain. Instead, other countries have many weapons of their own production, which are cheaper.
- The President of Brazil Lula da Silva offered to give Russia the occupied Crimea in order to stop its war against Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine replied that there is no reason to cede their lands.
- In an interview with TIME in May 2022, Lula da Silva stated that not only Putin is to blame for Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine, but also the United States, the EU, and Zelensky. He said that Ukraine should have abandoned the path to the EU and NATO, and instead negotiated with Russia.
- In early 2023, da Silva refused to hand over Gepard anti-aircraft shells to Ukraine, and later said he wanted to mediate between Ukraine and Russia to end the war.