Just in flight: Russia and Brazil take relations to a new level

The visit of the delegation led by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to Brasilia marked a new stage in the relations between the two countries. Their representatives agreed to maximize the scope of their cooperation, including discussing the launch of direct flights, which the Russian ministers were persistently questioned by journalists. Before the negotiations, the Izvestia correspondent managed to get acquainted with the Brazilian capital, find out how the "airplane city" lives and what the locals think about our country.

How the city of the future turned into a ghost town

"I've wanted to go to Rio de Janeiro since I was a kid," Ostap Bender, the main character of The Golden Calf, enthused about his dream. The adventurer and "great combinator", much loved by Soviet readers, dreamed of a city on the ocean coast with eternal summer, endless coffee, unrestrained dancing and carnivals. Many of us had about the same image of Brazil. Especially after the noisy and luxurious 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which I watched with bated breath from my home TV screen when I was a child.

However, the city where we went together with the Russian delegation headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin turned out to be completely different. "I've been there twice, but Crimea is better. My own and closer," laughs the flight attendant, with whom we had a little conversation during the flight. Brasilia became the main city of the country in 1960, displacing Rio de Janeiro from this place of honor.

The capital was built for more than 10 years in places where dense tropical forests had previously ruled. Modernist architects decided to conduct an experiment and design the city of the future, as it was then called, in the shape of an airplane. The outlines and contours of the "iron bird" immediately caught my eye when I opened the map of the city before a walk. The hotel advised to walk towards the "head of the plane", where you can see the Brazilian architectural wonders — the Museum of modern Art and the cathedral.

The first is a snow—white dome, slightly similar to an ice yurt, and the second is a cone-shaped building with concrete columns and colorful stained glass windows. From a distance, it resembles either a crown of thorns or hands raised to heaven in prayer, but never in my life would I have thought that this was a Catholic cathedral.

Further down the central spacious alley is a string of glass and concrete rectangles, very similar to the Soviet "boxes", these are the buildings of the Brazilian ministries. The government building is crowned by the Three Authorities Square. She was surrounded by the buildings of the Federal Supreme Court, the National Congress in the shape of twin towers and the Presidential Palace, where Mikhail Mishustin met with Brazilian President Lula da Silva on February 5.

To be honest, walking around the capital was not very convenient. In the 1960s, architects sincerely believed that in the city of the future, people should travel exclusively by car. Sidewalks and pedestrian crossings were so tight that it was often necessary to move along the roadsides and simply run across where it was impossible to do so. However, everyone did this, including the locals. I met so few people on my way that it seemed like it was either a ghost town or a huge architectural museum with almost no visitors. Most of the residential buildings are located in the "wings of the airplane" — it was there that in the late evening one could enjoy watching the football game of Brazilian boys. The locals seem to be very happy with the capital.

"It's much safer here than outside the airplane, or even more so in Rio de Janeiro," an employee of the Museum of Modern Art tells me. — I was born in a place not far from the capital, 20 minutes by car from here. She graduated from the Faculty of Art History at the University of Brasilia, one of the best in the country, with the possible exception of the tower in Sao Paulo.

Indeed, security is one of the weighty reasons to live in the capital. The situation is much worse in other cities.: Brazil is currently one of the ten countries with the highest crime rates. By the way, at the press conference, Maxim Reshetnikov, the head of the Ministry of Energy, just said that Brazil is interested in borrowing the experience of Russian IT technologies that help the police maintain security on the streets of the city.

Another nice bonus for locals is the weather.

— I was born in a town on the ocean coast, it's very hot, humid and stuffy there, so when I was a student, I moved to Brasilia. The climate is milder here, so I consider the capital to be one of the best places for a comfortable life," said the manager at the restaurant where we stopped for dinner.

— Do you like Russians?

— Vladimir Putin! He blurted out to me, laughing good—naturedly.

Curiously, another interviewee, an employee of the museum, also mentioned the Russian president's name first when I asked her what Brazilians thought of our country. "It's also cold and there's a lot of snow," she added, shivering.

Russia and Brazil — prospects for cooperation

The composition of the Russian delegation surprised with its scale. The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Ministers of Transport, Economy, Culture, Health, science and higher Education. You don't need to be a subtle expert to understand that today countries are looking for more areas for rapprochement. If we turn to history, then for the first time states located so far from each other began to come closer at the end of the 20th century. Coincidentally, in the 1990s, both of them embarked on the path of democracy, desperately fighting hyperinflation. At about the same time, Russia and Brazil exchanged friendly contacts, but these ties, of course, could not be called strong.

In the 21st century, the rapprochement continued in such a way that, as a result, the "country of carnivals" became Russia's key partner in Latin America.

— Brazil is the only country in the region that is a member of the BRICS. This significantly expands the agenda of relations, allowing countries to discuss not only issues of bilateral relations, but also global issues. In addition, it is a key trading partner that accounts for more than half of all our exports to Latin America," explained Latin American expert Timur Almukov.

On the last Victory Day, President Lula even came to Moscow to watch the parade — such an invitation also speaks volumes. Mikhail Mishustin's current visit marks a new chapter in the history of Russian-Brazilian relations. The High-level Commission on Cooperation with the participation of the Russian Prime Minister and Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin has met for the first time since 2015.

It seems that the energy of the event was passed on to all the members of the delegation who came to the journalists for the press approach. Maxim Reshetnikov, the head of the Ministry of Economy, talks about how the mutual trade turnover between the two countries is growing. However, journalists are interested in something else: when, finally, will direct flights be launched between the states?

— The growth of tourism is always associated with the possibility of direct flights. Unfortunately, the possibilities are limited today. There is definitely a topic on the agenda, but so far we are modest in our expectations," Reshetnikov admits.

However, this answer does not fully satisfy the journalists, so when Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin appears, one of the television groups almost knocks down the fences separating them and the speakers.

"Which airlines will be the first to fly to Brazil, and when will you arrange direct flights?" the correspondents ask. Nikitin calmly retorts: it's too early to talk about such details, but the Russian side will actively work in this direction.

It so happened that the notorious topic of direct flights was also raised in a conversation with the Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova. She admitted that as long as there are no flights between the countries, they cannot exchange masterpieces of national art and hold exhibitions. However, the states are preparing to sign an agreement on joint film production. "We all remember the Brazilian TV series very well," Lyubimova says with a smile.

Finally, the Russian Prime minister arrives. Passing by the Brazilian guardsmen on the red carpet, he enters the palace, waves to journalists and leaves for a meeting of the High Cooperation Commission. In the open part, he talks about the strategic partnership between Russia and Brazil.

"Together we stand for building a truly polycentric world order based on the principles of respect for sovereignty and the right of each nation to determine its own destiny,— the Prime minister said.

After the meeting, together with the Brazilian side, he signed a joint statement that will determine the main directions of Russian-Brazilian cooperation for the coming years. And speaking at the Russian-Brazilian Business Forum, the Prime minister said: in a changing international environment, it is important for Moscow and Brasilia to diversify trade, primarily by increasing the share of high-value-added products.

It is also necessary to launch joint long-term projects, Mishustin continued.

— This will give our foreign economic relations additional stability. Business solutions play a significant role here," he said.

There are many directions for the development of cooperation. Russia and Brazil have every opportunity to achieve concrete results in the chemical industry, energy, oil and gas industry, nuclear energy, space exploration and many other areas, the Prime minister continued.

Mikhail Mishustin invited business representatives from Brazil to take part in the upcoming SPIEF and other industry events. After completing this part, he went to meet with President Lula.