MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2023) Brazil and Chile rule out strengthening support for Kiev despite efforts made in this regard by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly as part of his Latin America tour, the Politico newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing local officials.
On May 18, Cleverly kicked off his 10-day tour trip to Jamaica, Colombia, Chile and Brazil in an effort to persuade the Latin American countries to take more pro-Ukrainian stance.
"In an ideal world, the Brits would like Brazil to be joining sanctions. But they are smart enough to understand that there's no such a thing as an ideal world, and things are as they are," a Brazilian official told the news outlet.
Ahead of Cleverly's visit, the official said there is no chance Brazil will increase its support for Ukraine.
A Chilean official also said that the UK is unlikely to succeed in persuading his country to provide Kiev with weapons.
"Not gonna happen, not at all ... It's a topic that needs to be solved by the big powers, not something we can do from this end of the world," the official said.
The newspaper reported that the UK foreign secretary's visit officially aims to promote trade cooperation with countries of the region, including on issues of energy and climate change. However, Chilean and Brazilian diplomats told Politico that London wants to discuss how both countries engage with Russia and China and sway their governments to align their policies closer with the West.
As for China, the Brazilian official said the country wants to preserve its "own space of autonomy" and expects Cleverly to be delicate at a meeting with his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, on Wednesday.
"The Brits are trying to find the right balance in their relationship with China in light of their interests, and so is Brazil ... It would be ludicrous for the foreign secretary to go to Brazil and ask Brazil to trade less with China. He knows this would be a non-starter," the diplomat said.
The Chilean official said that Santiago was "disappointed" Cleverly had not made more serious offers to win its support on the China issue.
"If you want to compete with China, you've got to pay. You've got to bring something in exchange ... I would have expected more concrete commitments - but that wasn't seen," the diplomat said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will try to achieve more on the same topics during her trip to the region in June, according to the report.
