Brazil’s Bolsonaro Says He Has ‘Solved’ Ukraine War and Will Tell Zelensky Soon

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told reporters on Thursday that he has figured out how to “resolve” the latest war between Russia and Ukraine, adding that he plans to share this insight with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week during a scheduled telephone meeting, Brazil’s Universo Online (UOL) media outlet reported.

“I’ll tell him my opinion, what I think. The solution to this. I know how it could be resolved. But I won’t tell anyone,” Bolsonaro said in Portuguese during a visit to Brazil’s northeastern state of Maranhao on July 14, as quoted in English by Reuters.

“The solution to this case would be like how Argentina’s war with the UK ended in 1982,” he added, without elaborating.

“Argentina and Britain fought a short conflict in 1982 over sovereignty of the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic, known in Argentina as the Malvinas,” Reuters recalled on Thursday. “It began in April 1982 when Argentine troops landed on the British-controlled islands, and Britain sent a naval task force to retake them. The poorly-equipped Argentine troops stood little chance and Argentina surrendered two months later.”

Bolsonaro is scheduled to speak over the phone with his Ukrainian counterpart on July 18. The Brazilian leader said Zelensky initiated plans for the two to talk next week.

“He was the one who sought to talk to us. And I said right away that I would talk to him, yes. He has a big country to run. Everything that was agreed with [Russian] President Putin is being fulfilled. On my part and on his part. I will talk to him a lot. He is a leader and I will give my opinion to him,” UOL quoted Bolsonaro as saying on July 14.

President Bolsonaro visited Putin in Moscow in February a few days before Russia launched its latest war with neighboring Ukraine on February 24. The Brazilian leader has maintained a neutral perspective on the conflict.

“We will not take sides, we will continue being neutral, and help with whatever is possible,” Bolsonaro said at a press conference on February 27.

“A big part of Ukraine’s population speaks Russian,” he stated, adding that Russia and Ukraine were “practically brother nations.”

Reuters suggested on Thursday that Bolsonaro has refrained from taking sides in the Moscow-Kyiv conflict so that Brazil may freely purchase fuel and fertilizers from Russia as usual.

“Earlier this week his [Bolsonaro’s] foreign relations minister said Brazil is looking to buy as much diesel as it can from Russia, which is also a large supplier of fertilizers to the South American agricultural powerhouse,” the news agency noted on July 14.