For a conflict occurring thousands of kilometers away, the Russia-Ukraine war has demanded a significant amount of time on the agendas of Brazil’s government, Congress, and media over the last 18 months. The latest example came last week, when members of the House’s Foreign Relations Committee met to debate the regulation of technical-military cooperation agreement with none other than Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
But the main concern for lawmakers is not on the agreement’s merits, but rather its optics — coming a year and a half since Russia invaded its neighbor to the south-west.
The agreement was originally signed in 2008 and was ratified seven years later. This latest offshoot concerns matters of “mutual intellectual property protection” and the exchange and production of military technology, including weapons, military services, researches, and confidential information. While this may sound more serious, it is typical of previous agreements signed by Brazil with other countries, says Cristina Pecequilo, international relations professor at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp).
“There’s nothing new [in the agreement], in fact, it could even bring advantages for Brazil in the field of partnerships and technical-scientific cooperation, due to obtaining intellectual property and exchanging knowledge,” Ms. Pecequilo tells The Brazilian Report. “Both Brazil and Russia have been adopting those models for many years in terms of strategic partnership.”
Indeed, Brazil already has technical-military cooperation agreements in place with France and the U.S., as well as strictly defense-related cooperation agreements with dozens of countries...
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