Everything may have been precisely planned for the meeting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with Brazilian President Lula da Silva, but the talks between the two politicians almost did not take place due to the refusal of the Brazilian company Vibra Energia to supply, with kerosene, the fox plane of Russian diplomacy.
As the news site AeroTelegraph reports, “after the meeting of G20 leaders in Rio de Janeiro, Lavrov had to fly to the capital of Brazil, where he was scheduled to meet with President Lula da Silva. However, the Russian diplomat could not refuel his Il-96 government aircraft. Lavrov had to fly on his Brazilian counterpart’s plane.
The publication notes that Vibra Energia refused to refuel Lavrov’s plane for fear of risking new US sanctions. Without additional kerosene, the Russian “Il-76” aircraft would not have enough fuel for the next flight to Casablanca (Morocco), where it will refuel and then fly to Russia on routes that bypass European airspace.
The Brazilian government consulted with the country’s Air Force about the availability of kerosene at Galeão Air Base, but the military reported that it was insufficient.
After the final refueling refusal, the Brazilian side invited Lavrov to leave his Il-76 aircraft in Rio de Janeiro and fly to the capital, as a passenger on the plane of Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. The same plane would then return Lavrov to Rio de Janeiro.
On the evening of February 22, Russian media reported that the Russian foreign minister had flown to Brasilia, but could not elaborate.
From the beginning, however, things did not go well for Lavrov on his flight to Brazil, Bild comments.
Since European airspace is closed to Russian planes, Russia’s foreign minister had to make a long detour to reach his destination.
Instead of flying directly from Moscow to Rio de Janeiro, he went via Turkey, Morocco and Cuba to South America, the German newspaper reported.
In his meeting with Lula da Silva, Sergei Lavrov “outlined Russia’s positions regarding the conflict in Ukraine.” This is what the Brazilian government said in the press release regarding their meeting in Brasilia, which ended without a press conference.
President Lula, for his part, reiterated that “Brazil remains willing to cooperate in efforts to restore peace in Ukraine,” in a written message via Twitter.
Lula opposes Moscow’s political isolation since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, pointing out that Volodymyr Zelensky and Western powers bear responsibility for the outbreak of the armed conflict.
Lavrov this week attended a meeting of foreign ministers of the G20 countries, organized in Rio de Janeiro, as the largest country in Latin America exercises its rotating presidency this year.
24 hours earlier, however, the Russian Foreign Minister told reporters that “some of our Western colleagues at the G20 ministerial meeting tried to make unsubstantiated accusations against the Russian Federation and “Ukrainize” the agenda in all possible ways.”
Source: protothema.gr
