Brazil declines Ukraine's request to sell arms — NYT

Ukraine has approached Brazil at least twice about the purchase of weapons, but these requests were "mostly ignored", reported The New York Times with reference to the official correspondence of Brazil.

Ukraine turned to Brazil to purchase "a large list of weapons." In particular, the request included armored vehicles, aircraft, air defense systems, mortars, sniper rifles, automatic weapons and ammunition, the publication writes.

The NYT notes that Brazil is a producer of military aircraft and other weapons that are cheaper to operate and maintain than Western models.

"It hurts Ukraine because it becomes overly dependent on NATO supplies, which are donated, but are extremely expensive to maintain, because they come from rich countries that own and make extremely sophisticated weapons. The global south countries have weapons systems that are more suited to their realities," explained the professor of military strategy at the Command and Staff College of the Brazilian Army Sandro Teixeira Moita.

Earlier, Germany asked Brazil to return unused projectiles to Gepard anti-aircraft guns, but it refused to give them to Ukraine, the publication writes.

As the NYT notes, Brazil's stance on supporting Ukraine may indicate a desire to maintain good diplomatic relations with Russia, which is an important trade partner for Brazil.

On April 7, 2023, Brazilian President Lula da Silva proposed to cede the Crimean Peninsula to Russia in exchange for an end to the war.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine responded to the proposal to hand over Crimea: "Ukrainians do not trade territories."