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April 17 (UPI) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov kicked off a five-day tour of Latin America in Brazil on Monday as Moscow seeks to rally international support for the war in Ukraine. Lavrov plans to hold meetings through Friday with his diplomatic counterparts in Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba in an effort to "strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation," Russian state media reported.
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Lavrov's tour aims to strengthen political, cultural and economic ties between Moscow and Latin America with a focus on bolstering "the legal framework of the present-day world, which is based on the United Nations Charter," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Latin America is a friendly region, one of the centers of the formation of a multipolar world and Russia plans to maintain a dynamic dialogue with it, develop constructive cooperation free from any dictation from outside," the statement read.
But many diplomatic experts believed Moscow was seeking to exploit the open market for influence in the region by pressuring leaders for commitments to support Russia by remaining neutral on Ukraine.
Lavrov's first stop in Brazil comes after the country's new president, Luiz InĂ¡cio Lula da Silva, condemned the Russian invasion while leaving an opening for further diplomacy by accusing NATO of playing a role in triggering the conflict.
Lula previously indicated he was eager to elevate Brazil's standing on the world stage after years of geopolitical isolation under former President Jair Bolsonaro, and Moscow was likely to see this as an opportunity for leverage in the negotiations, diplomatic experts said.
Brazil has remained neutral since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The Brazilian president, who took office in January, would face a serious challenge in aligning with Russia as one of the country's biggest trade partners is the United States, which is backing Ukraine.
Many political insiders believed that Lula would be more focused on negotiating a cease-fire in Ukraine after he suggested a peace deal during a January meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
At the time, Lula declined to send ammunition to help Ukraine's military but did send his foreign policy adviser to Moscow to discuss a potential peace deal with President Vladimir Putin.
Washington was also growing increasingly circumspect after Lula recently told the Chinese media that Ukraine should give up Crimea and that the United States should "stop encouraging the war" -- which raised eyebrows among Brazil's allies around the world.
"Lula's approach to the issue in Ukraine, both in substance and rhetoric, is causing a lot of mistrust in Washington and other Western capitals in Europe," said Bruna Santos, who was observing the situation as director of the Brazil Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington.
Previously, Lula met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in February when both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to safeguard Brazil's democratic institutions following a mob attack on governmental buildings that was reminiscent of the Jan. 6 insurrection in the United States.
In March, Brazil condemned the Russian during a vote at the United Nations.
