ISTANBUL

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday held talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Kremlin, where the two leaders addressed international trade concerns, including the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

In opening remarks, Lula criticized Washington’s trade stance, saying Trump’s approach “buries the issue of free trade and strengthening multilateralism.”

He stressed the need for Brazil and Russia to expand commercial relations and explore new areas of cooperation.

Putin, in turn, emphasized the value of Russia-Brazil ties, noting that both countries are working closely within global platforms like the UN, BRICS, and G20.

“We closely cooperate in the international arena and we will talk about this today,” he said.

The Russian president welcomed Lula’s visit, highlighting strong bilateral trade, particularly in energy, fertilizers, and food.

“Largely due to personal contacts, we were able to do a great deal of work to strengthen relations between our countries,” he said.

Lula said Brazil is particularly interested in deepening ties with Moscow in energy, military, space, science, and education. “I will never forget how carefully Mr. Putin always treats our conversations,” he added.

Senior Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Rosatom Director Alexei Likhachev, joined the meeting.

Lula arrived in Moscow on May 7 to attend memorial events marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II. According to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, the conflict in Ukraine was also on the agenda of the meeting.