Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone today for around an hour. Strengthening bilateral relations, but also “pressing international issues,” the great geopolitical crises, were on the agenda of the discussion between these two BRICS founding members. According to the Kremlin readout, President Lula initiated the call.
On bilateral matters, both readouts referenced the Russian-Brazilian High-Level Commission held in Brasília earlier this year as a touchstone of relations, and their interest in “expanding and diversifying mutual trade,” as the Kremlin put it.
Lula, in his readout posted on X, reported that the two had “reaffirmed the strategic nature of Brazil-Russia relations and our intention to intensify cooperation on issues such as energy, science and technology, and the naval sector.” He reported that he had specifically emphasized the importance of diesel and fertilizers in their trade, and “highlighted” the need to increase Brazilian exports to Russia, to secure a better trade balance.
