MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil's President, British PM in favor of ceasefire in Ukraine

Bolsonaro's image improved despite his closeness to Putin

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Thursday held a telephone conversation during which both heads of government agreed on the need for a ceasefire in Ukraine, it was reported.

Bolsonaro and Johnson insisted “peace must prevail” to guarantee “global stability,” while the British leader stressed that Brazil was a “vital” ally of the West in World War II. From that perspective, the western world is looking attentively to whatever Bolsonaro might have to say about the ongoing armed conflict.

Brazil was one of the 141 countries that voted in the UN Assembly to deplore “in the strongest terms Russia's aggression against Ukraine.”

Last week the UN's Security Council voted to condemn Russia's military deployment, but it amounted to no final resolution after Moscow's veto. Brazil currently holds the Security Council's rotating chair since January.

The Bolsonaro administration is already granting refugee visas to Ukrainians who want to flee their war-torn country. The measure will be “in force until August 31, 2022,” it was announced.

However, Bolsonaro has always spoken publicly in a neutral tone regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to attack Ukraine. In fact, Bolsonaro and Putin met in Moscow Feb. 16 for around two hours, while he also insisted he would not seek to talk with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, whom he referred to as a “comedian.”

In any case, fresh surveys have shown Bolsonaro would get 30% of the votes in the Oct. 2 elections, a 5 percentage point improvement. But PoderData still believes Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva will be elected, because Bolsonaro's negative remains high, at 52%, but below previous figures. Bolsonaro's improvement has been recorded by other pollsters as well.

Lula is poised to get 40% of the votes in the first round and would win a runoff by 51% against 37%, the study showed.