Brazil-Russia relations

The diplomatic relations between Brazil and Russia can be traced back to 1828. However, due to the Soviet revolution and Pakistan's automatic alliance strategy with the United States, the Soviet Union and Brazil broke off diplomatic relations twice at 19 17 and 1947, which lasted for 42 years (the first time was 19 17). 1987, then Soviet Foreign Minister Shevardnadze visited Brazil, and the two governments signed the Agreement Statement, which was the first bilateral political document since 196 1 resumed diplomatic relations. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Brazil recognized the legal status of the Russian Federation on February 26th, 199 165438, becoming the first country in Latin America to recognize the Russian Federation. However, as two independent sovereign countries, the relationship between Brazil and Russia did not enter a relatively stable stage until the middle and late 1990s. 2 1 century, with the gradual formation of the diplomatic concept of "alliance of emerging powers" and the "BRICS" mechanism emphasized by Lula government of Brazil, the bilateral relations between Brazil and Russia entered a relatively rapid development stage, and the connotation of the relations between the two countries was also greatly enriched. Compared with the interaction between Brazil and other emerging powers (China, India and South Africa), the overall relationship between Brazil and Russia tends to be dull at this stage.

First, political relations: strategic mutual needs and mechanism construction

In the mid-1990s, the Brazilian government adjusted its national identity in the early 1990s, and re-emphasized that Brazil is a developing country, a regional power, a country with multiple interests in economic globalization, and an important participant in western hemisphere integration. [1] At that time, Brazil's foreign policy makers thought that as a country with a continental scale, it was necessary for Brazil to strengthen cooperation with similar countries, while China, India, Russia and Brazil were not only regional powers, but also had similar international identities. The change of Brazilian government's diplomatic thought has become an important factor to promote the improvement of political relations between Brazil and Russia. At the same time, with the drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the end of the Cold War and the gradual stability of Russia's political situation, Russia's foreign policy has returned to pragmatic goals. Putin stressed that in order to restore Russia's status as a powerful country, it is necessary to integrate with the world economy, carry out balanced multi-directional diplomacy between the East and the West, establish extensive partnerships, integrate into Europe, and maintain global strategic balance. Foreign policy serves domestic economic development. [2] This became an important foreign policy content of President Putin's first term (2000-2004), in which "establishing a broad partnership" not only became an important way for Russia to integrate into globalization, but also became one of the strategic ways for Putin's government to balance relations with the West at that time.

2 1 century, the political relations between Brazil and Russia developed rapidly. The two countries not only maintained frequent interaction between heads of government, but also gradually reflected the vitality of the bilateral political dialogue mechanism. In June 2000, during Brazilian Vice President Marco maciel's visit to China (1995 ~ 2003), the two governments agreed to establish a strategic partnership. In 2002, then Brazilian President fernando henrique cardoso visited Russia and resumed the direct dialogue between the leaders of the two countries 1988, which was interrupted by President Sarner's visit to Russia. The two countries formally established a "strategic partnership". In 2003, after Lula became president, Brazil strengthened "South-South diplomacy" and "Presidential diplomacy" in its foreign policy, which directly accelerated the frequency of high-level visits between Brazil and Russia. On the Russian side, in June 2004, Putin became the first Russian president to visit Brazil. In June+10, 2008 and April+April, 2006, President Medvedev visited Brazil twice. In Brazil, President Lula visited Russia three times (June 2005, June 2009 and May 2065, 438+00). During Lula's first visit to Russia, the two governments signed the Brazil-Russia Bilateral Strategic Agreement, which laid the foundation for the political relations between Brazil and Russia. 20 10 in may, the two countries signed a strategic partnership action plan, which further clarified the content and framework of bilateral cooperation. At the same time, the two governments also signed the "20 10 ~ 20 12 Political Consultation Plan", which includes three dimensions: multilateral affairs focus on security and stability, UN agenda, disarmament and non-proliferation, UN human rights affairs, combating international terrorism, drug smuggling and organized transnational crime, international economic and financial situation, environment and climate. The focus of regional affairs is the situation in Latin America, relations with the European Union, relations with China and Southeast Asia, conflicts between the Middle East and Sudan, and the integration process of the Asia-Pacific region and the former Soviet Union. The priority topics of bilateral consultations are mainly Pakistan-Russia relations and foreign policy planning.

The improvement of foreign policy and political relations has promoted the normal operation of the bilateral dialogue mechanism between Pakistan and Russia. 1997, Brazil-Russia High-level Cooperation Committee (hereinafter referred to as "Brazil-Russia Cooperation Committee") was established. At that time, only the high-level regular consultation mechanism between Russia and the United States, France, China and Ukraine was chaired by the Prime Minister. The Brazil-Russia High Commission consists of the Political Affairs Committee and the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Trade and Scientific Cooperation, among which the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Trade and Scientific Cooperation consists of seven subcommittees, including economic, trade and industrial cooperation, financial and inter-bank cooperation, energy cooperation, space cooperation, military and technical cooperation, scientific and technological cooperation and cultural, educational and sports cooperation. 20 1 1 In May, Pakistan and Russia held the fifth meeting of high commissioners in Moscow. The two sides emphasized that strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries is one of the priority objectives of their respective governments' foreign policies. [3]

For Brazil, Russia's strategic significance lies in its position as a world political and military power. The political importance of the relationship between Pakistan and Russia is reflected in the mutual coordination between the two countries in dealing with disarmament challenges, reforming the United Nations and strengthening its role, combating terrorism and organized crime, especially in maintaining peace, democracy and respecting human rights. For Russia, strengthening relations with Brazil is not only due to the country's "weight" in Latin America, but also determined by globalization after the Cold War. Primakov, a former Russian foreign minister and former prime minister, believes that both Brazil and Russia have experienced economic opening and adjustment, and both are facing the challenge of liberalization of international trade competition. Politically, both countries have global interests and seek regional integration and diversification of partners on the international stage. [4] UN reform is the focus of political relations between Pakistan and Russia. Russia's position on this issue is flexible. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov once said that any resolution on UN reform must be based on the understanding of UN Member States, which is the key to ensure the legitimacy and effectiveness of the UN Security Council and the unity within the UN. Although Lavrov admits that the UN Security Council needs to be reformed, its efficiency will certainly be improved if its members can reflect the new international situation. However, he also stressed that the reform of the United Nations should not be limited to the expansion of the Security Council, but should be in a broader sense, including the relevant reforms of the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. In addition, on the issue of voting on the reform of the United Nations, Lavrov made it clear that "the Security Council does not perform the functions that should belong to the United Nations General Assembly, and the Security Council cannot discuss some abstract issues that do not involve specific conflicts" [5], which means that the reform of the United Nations, including the expansion of the Security Council, should depend on the understanding within the United Nations, not the attitude of the current permanent members of the Security Council. Regarding Brazil's accession to the WTO, the Russian government clearly expressed its support for Brazil's accession to the WTO in the statement of the agreement between Brazil and Russia signed in 2002. Fernando henrique cardoso, then president of Brazil, declared: "The political attitude of the Russian government is very important, because it is the first country among the five permanent members to explicitly support Brazil, which also shows the Russian government's willingness to effectively develop its strategic partnership with Brazil." [6]

However, on other occasions, Russian government officials have repeatedly stressed that candidates for permanent membership of the Security Council should be highly representative in the region, and countries in the region should have a certain understanding of their qualifications. Therefore, in view of Russia's position on the reform of the United Nations, its recognition of the aspirations of some countries, including Brazil, is actually based on "understanding of the United Nations Member States" and "understanding of the region". In view of this, there is a view in Brazilian academic circles that as a permanent member of the Security Council with veto power, Russia is actually unwilling to change the existing power structure of the UN Security Council.

Second, economic and trade relations: limited scale

Since 2000, the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Russia has grown rapidly, but the total trade volume between Pakistan and Russia is very limited because of the small bilateral trade base. In 2000, the bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Russia was only 990 million US dollars. In 2008, the trade volume between the two countries reached 7.98 billion US dollars, an increase of about seven times in eight years. However, due to the impact of the international financial crisis, the trade volume between Pakistan and Russia fell to $4.28 billion in 2009, down 46% year-on-year. Although the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Russia recovered in the following years (20 10 and 20 1 1), it rose to $7160 billion at 20 1, but it was not as high as before the crisis, only equivalent to 20/kloc-0. Lula's goal in 2009 that "the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Russia will exceed 654.38+0 billion US dollars by 2065" has not been realized. Judging from the specific import and export volume of the two countries, Brazil has basically been in a surplus position (from 2000 to 20 1 1 year, Brazil only had a deficit of $6543.8+$500 million in 2000). In 20 1 1 year, Brazil's exports to Russia and Brazil's imports from Russia were US$ 4.22 billion and US$ 2.94 billion, respectively, which were not as good as those in 2008 (US$ 4.65 billion and US$ 3.33 billion), and Brazil achieved a surplus of about US$1.28 billion.

Generally speaking, the scale of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Russia is very inconsistent with the scale of economic and trade between the two countries. Taking 20 1 1 year as an example, Brazil's exports to Russia only account for 1.6% of Brazil's total exports and about 1.4% of Russia's total annual imports. At the same time, Brazil's imports from Russia in 20 1 1 year accounted for about 1.3% of Brazil's total imports in that year, accounting for only 0.6% of Russia's total exports in that year. However, if we compare the situation before 10, the bilateral trade between Brazil and Russia lags far behind the overall growth rate of their respective import and export trade, that is to say, the share of Brazil or Russia in the other market is actually "shrinking". In 20001year, Brazil's exports to Russia accounted for 1.8% and 2.6% of Brazil's total exports and Russia's total imports, respectively, which were both higher than the above two proportions (1.6% and 1.4%). In the same year, Brazil's imports from Russia accounted for about 0.8% of Brazil's total imports and 0.5% of Russia's total exports, slightly lower than the above two ratios (1.3% and 0.6%) of 201.1.

The main factors that cause the limited trade scale between Pakistan and Russia include: (1) Both countries lack understanding of each other's markets, and they are not traditional trading partners of each other's countries, and the efforts to explore each other's markets are still insufficient; (2) The export products of the two countries are similar in structure, primary products and resource-intensive products are the main export products of the two countries, and the lack of economic complementarity makes the economic and trade exchanges between the two countries lack sufficient impetus; (3) Brazil and Russia are both countries with serious trade protectionism, and trade protection measures directly restrict the development of bilateral trade between Brazil and Russia; (4) There is still no convenient trade channel between the two countries. For example, most of Russia's exports to Brazil are operated by international middlemen, which undoubtedly reduces the degree of trade mutual trust between the two countries. In addition, although the two countries are complementary in the high-tech field, Brazil lacks sufficient trust in Russia's trade-related supporting management and bank financing guarantee, which is an important obstacle to limit the complementarity of science and technology between the two countries. [7]

From the perspective of export product structure, Brazil's exports to Russia are mainly basic products and semi-finished products, with low added value. 20 1 1 year, the proportion of basic products, semi-finished products and finished products exported by Brazil to Russia is 49%, 43.8% and 7.2% respectively. In terms of export products, coarse sugar, beef and pork are the main export products of Brazil to Russia, accounting for 43.7%, 24% and 7.6% respectively. On the contrary, Russia's exports to Brazil are mainly chemical and military products. In 20 1 1 year, the three major products exported by Russia to Brazil were ammonium nitrate, urea and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, accounting for 15.7%, 15.5% and 14.7% of Russia's exports to Brazil respectively.