In addition to the current fierce fighting in Ukraine in Donbass, there is another big play! The US backyard country Brazil has sided with Russia between the United States and Russia, and has won the support of Putin's "normal". According to the Global Network reported on the 17th, Russian President Putin held a meeting with visiting Brazilian President Bolsonaro on the 16th, and the two sides agreed to strengthen strategic partnership, further cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, science and technology, and issued a joint statement.
Bolsonaro said that the visit is a sign of Brazil's good relations with Russia and that he is deeply united with Russia. Putin gladly accepted the invitation to visit Brazil. It is worth noting that Russia and Pakistan also held a "2 + 2 talks" between foreign ministers and defense ministers, in which Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Russia supports Brazil to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
It is worth noting that the Brazilian president's visit to Russia was strongly obstructed by the United States. The White House has repeatedly pressed the Brazilian government to cancel Bolsonaro's trip, but the latter has refused. The Brazilian government said Russia would not be isolated, apparently brazil submitting its name to Russia. Although Bolsonaro repeatedly stressed the expansion of bilateral trade as the goal of the visit before his visit, it is clear that his task does not stop there.
First of all, "entering the normal" is obviously a political topic, and Russia's support vote is equivalent to allowing Brazil to open a barrier to joining the "five permanent clubs". In fact, Brazil has been working hard for a long time to "enter the normal", and China does not oppose it. At the previous BRICS summit, China and Russia clearly expressed their support for India and Brazil to play a greater role in the United Nations, while Brazil is currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council.
In fact, in order to realize the "normal dream", Brazil has also formed a "four-power alliance" with India, Japan and Germany, which earlier this year called for reform of the Security Council, hoping to become a permanent member of the Security Council. Of course, Brazil's support from China and Russia is not enough, and it needs the consent of the United States, France, and Britain to enter the country.
The United Nations had discussed the reform of the Council, but it had ultimately collapsed because of the divergence of views among many countries and serious differences. Among them, Russia supports the development of Security Council reform towards multilateralism, allowing more African and Asian countries to participate, and opposing the monopoly of seats by Western countries; but Western countries led by the United States hope to further install "their own people".
Second, Brazil's visit to Russia is clearly preparing for the coming elections with political purposes. Brazil will hold elections this year, and President Bolsonaro is not in a good position. According to the latest poll data in Brazil, Bolsonaro's approval rating is currently only 22%, the lowest point in office, far behind former President Lula's 35%.
Bolsonaro has tried to increase the odds by changing the election count, but the results have not been satisfactory. Due to the failure of the new crown epidemic prevention and control in office, which caused 640,000 deaths and scandals, brazilians hope that Bolsonaro will step down. It can be said that this year's election is very unfavorable to Bolsonaro, but if Brazil is expected to "enter the normal", it will help it to win re-election.
Finally, Bolsonaro also revealed the idea of "having nuclear weapons" during his visit to Russia. In an interview with reporters after the meeting, Bolsonaro said Brazil was interested in building "small nuclear reactors." He said he had discussed the topic with Putin, who told him that Brazil wanted to build nuclear submarines, but there was a lack of technology and that Brazil could cooperate with Russia in areas such as nuclear energy and peaceful atoms.
In fact, Brazil has always wanted to have nuclear submarines. In 2008, Brazil signed a military agreement with France that would help Brazil build 4 conventional submarines and 1 nuclear-powered submarine and provide technology transfer. In 2020, Brazil launched the Ilyo-Damedra submarine base, which is planned to accommodate 5 submarines under construction. So far, however, Brazil's nuclear submarine program has been difficult to advance.
At present, brazil has launched two submarines with the support of France, but these are conventional submarines. Contacting Bolsonaro to seek Putin's help, I don't know if Brazil is ready to follow Australia's example and tear up the nuclear submarine order with France and transfer it to Russia. It is clear that the Proliferation of nuclear technology by the United States to Australia has made Brazil want to move.
However, whether Putin agrees to help Brazil build nuclear submarines, Russia can use this as a bargaining chip to negotiate with the United States, after all, Brazil is closer to the United States. What's more, the United States still violates the agreement first, and Russia has the upper hand. But it is worth vigilance that Brazil's ambitions are not small, and they have always had the idea of possessing nuclear weapons.
Historically, Brazil has come close to building nuclear weapons. During the COVID-19 pandemic, brazil's parliament also conducted a legislative review on "letting Brazil have nuclear weapons" on the grounds of preventing foreign interference. It is reported that the proposal has the support of tens of thousands of Brazilians. The proposal claims that Brazil will be better able to guard the Amazon after having nuclear weapons.
And there is no doubt that after Brazil possessed nuclear weapons, the first person who could not sit still was the United States. However, Brazil's constitution prohibits the country from developing nuclear weapons.