Relationship dossier
Brazil
Russia
Relationship assessment
A strategic partnership with defense cooperation and continued engagement despite differences over Ukraine.
Brazil toward Russia
+35Brazil has maintained bilateral strategic and defense cooperation with Russia, including through a defense cooperation agreement. Brazil voted in the UN General Assembly to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while declining to join Western sanctions and opposing weapons transfers to the conflict.
Russia toward Brazil
+35Russia has maintained a strategic partnership with Brazil and entered into bilateral defense cooperation arrangements, including an agreement on defense cooperation. Russian military-technical ties with Brazil have also included the supply of Mi-35 helicopters.
Overall relationship
+35The relationship is sustained by a strategic partnership, defense cooperation and engagement in BRICS. Brazil’s condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its refusal to join sanctions or supply weapons illustrate meaningful policy differences, but bilateral engagement has continued.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Brazil and Russia maintain a strategic partnership with cooperation in defense and regular bilateral mechanisms, alongside collaboration in BRICS. Brazil has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the UN General Assembly but has not joined Western sanctions and has opposed supplying weapons to the conflict. These differences coexist with continued bilateral engagement.
Areas of tension
- Brazil’s condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine contrasts with Russia’s conduct and position on the war.
- Brazil has declined to join Western sanctions against Russia and opposed weapons transfers to the conflict.
Key developments
Brazil and Russia established a strategic partnership.
The countries concluded a bilateral defense cooperation agreement.
Brazil voted in the UN General Assembly to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Major uncertainties
- The current scope and implementation of bilateral defense and technical cooperation are unclear.
- The extent to which differences over Ukraine affect other areas of bilateral cooperation is uncertain.