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Vladimir Putin dials Brazil's Lula a day after speaking to PM Narendra Modi amid Donald Trump's tariff war
According to Kremlin statement, Putin and Lula reaffirmed their determination to further strengthen their countries’ partnership and coordination within BRICS.
A day after talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to discuss cooperation among the BRICS countries amid US President Donald Trump slapping tariffs on both New Delhi and Brasilia.
According to a Kremlin statement, Putin and Lula reaffirmed their determination to further strengthen their countries’ strategic partnership and coordination within BRICS.
The Brazilian presidential office said that Putin initiated the call, and it included a discussion of his talks with the US on Ukraine and Brazil-Russia cooperation.
Earlier on Thursday, President Lula called Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and both reinforced the goal of expanding bilateral trade to more than $20 billion by 2030, among other pressing matters.
The BRICS nations, especially Brazil and India, have become targets of Donald Trump's tariffs.
While Trump justified a 50 percent tariff on imports from India by linking it to New Delhi's purchase of Russian oil, Brazil has also seen high tariffs on its exports to the US in the Republican’s efforts to end the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro on charges that he attempted a coup.
Brazil expanding trade with India, China to offset Donald Trump’s tariffs
Brazil has responded to the 50 percent tariff imposed by Donald Trump by seeking to expand trade with other partners, including China, India and Southeast Asia.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said Brazil will not target the US with reciprocal tariffs in response to the 50% trade levy Trump placed on its goods, but will gauge interest for a joint response among its BRICS partners.
He has already spoken to Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi, and the US tariffs were also among the topics discussed, although the details are still not clear.
While Brazil’s oil producers gained relief from the tariffs, concern has emerged over the country’s dependence on Russian diesel after Trump slapped an extra tariff on India for buying Russian energy.
