An advisor to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss beginning peace negotiations with Ukraine, a Brazilian presidential official said, as quoted by AFP on Monday.

Celso Amorim, head of a special advisory group to the Brazilian President, met with Putin on March 25 in the Kremlin, in a meeting that lasted for an hour and had reportedly been kept confidential. 

The trip by Lula's top advisor on international affairs came less than two weeks before the Brazilian president visits China, another country that is also exerting efforts for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. 

It is worth noting that Lula proposed the formation of a group of nations to mediate the war in Ukraine.  He will address this issue with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on April 13 in Beijing.

When asked about the outcome of the meeting with Putin, Amorim was quoted by CNN Brasil as saying, "To say that the doors are open (for peace talks) would be an exaggeration, but to say that they are closed is not true either." 

During the conversation, bilateral issues were also tackled, such as the fertilizer trade between Russia and Brazil. 

The same presidential source confirmed to AFP that Amorim had lunch with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in addition to his meeting with Putin. Lavrov will visit Brazil on April 17.

Amorim visited Paris before departing for Brazil, where he spoke with his French counterpart and Emmanuel Bonne, the diplomatic advisor to President Emmanuel Macron, about "paths to peace."

The big picture

Despite the massive campaign of Western sanctions against Moscow, Brazil and Russia have been seeking to maintain current commercial, economic, and investment links, with a specific emphasis on Russian fertilizer exports.

Last December, the trade turnover between Brazil and Russia was reported to have exceeded $8 billion.

Brazil is Russia's main trade partner in Latin America and continues to rely on Russian fertilizers for agricultural purposes.

Moreover, both nations are parties to the BRICS alliance, which is establishing itself as a renowned alliance on the world stage. The bloc includes the world's major developing countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It was also announced, recently, that a handful of medium-sized economies intend to join the bloc: Argentina, Algeria Iran, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. 

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