Brazil opposed to ejecting Russia from G20

Brazil is "clearly opposed" to barring Russia from the G20, the foreign minister said, as the US led a push to exclude Moscow from the group over its invasion of Ukraine.

"We've seen initiatives emerge in various international organizations... to expel or suspend Russia. Brazil is clearly opposed to those initiatives, in line with our traditional position in favor of multilateralism and international law," Foreign Minister Carlos Franca told a Senate session Thursday.

The push to exclude Russia has divided G20 members.

Franca said the United Nations, not the G20, was the place to "debate issues of peace and security."

President Jair Bolsonaro has insisted Brazil remain "neutral" over the Ukraine conflict.

His stance has drawn criticism from some quarters, including the Biden administration, which rebuked the far-right president for voicing Brazil's "solidarity" with Russia when Bolsonaro visited Putin in Moscow eight days before the Ukraine invasion.