Russia asks Brazil for international support as its economy crumbles

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov wrote to Economy Minister Paulo Guedes asking for Brazil’s support before the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the G20 as Western sanctions continue to ravage the Russian economy.

According to a new Reuters report, Siluanov wrote to his South American counterpart to ask for “support to prevent political accusations and discrimination attempts in international financial institutions and multilateral fora.”

"Behind the scenes work is underway in the IMF and World Bank to limit or even expel Russia from the decision-making process," Siluanov wrote.

The letter was dated March 30 and delivered to Guedes by Russia’s ambassador in Brasilia on Wednesday.

"As you know, Russia is going through a challenging period of economic and financial turbulence caused by sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies," the Russian minister said.

Brazil’s Secretary of International Economic Affairs Erivaldo Gomes acknowledged the letter had been received by the minister and said the government was partial to maintaining open dialogue with Russia within international bodies.  

"From Brazil's point of view ... keeping open dialogue is essential," he said. "Our bridges are the international bodies and our assessment is that these bridges have to be preserved."

There is growing international pressure to exclude Russia from the global community, however, and Russia has already been expelled from the UN’s human rights body.

Citing Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week that the U.S. would not participate in any G20 meetings if the Russian delegation was present.

The exclusion of Russia from international financial bodies is yet another blow to Moscow as it attempts to survive the freezing of almost half of its international reserves and the blocking of foreign trade transactions, Siluanov said.

"The United States and its satellites are pursuing a policy of isolating Russia from the international community," he added.

Although Brazil’s conservative President Jair Bolsonaro visited Moscow just days before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” against Ukraine, he has since remained neutral in the Ukraine crisis, drawing criticism from Western leaders for refusing to condemn the invasion.

Even so, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Carlos Franca recently stated that Brazil will continue to oppose the expulsion of Russia from the G20 – a move that has angered the White House.

"The most important thing at this time is to have all international forums, the G20, WTO, FAO, functioning fully, and for that all countries need to be present, including Russia," Franca told a Senate hearing on March 25.