SAO PAULO: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reiterated his opposition to economic sanctions against Russia, in order to retain the supply of Russian fertiliser imports to Brazilian agribusiness.

“We are not going to adhere to sanctions (against Russia). We maintain a balanced position because without Brazil’s balance on this issue today, we would not have fertilisers for our agribusiness,” Bolsonaro said in July during the Global Agribusiness Forum 2022 in the city of Sao Paulo.

The President defended the country’s decision to maintain trade ties with Russia to ensure food production, Xinhua news agency reported. “Without fertilisers, our guarantee of food security and that of 1 billion people in the world would be threatened,” he added.

Bolsonaro also said that in December 2021 his government decided to expand the national fertiliser programme in search of alternatives to imports. Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, is the world’s leading soybean producer and the world’s leading exporter of animal protein.