Brazil’s Ukrainian community leader meets Brazil-Ukraine Parliamentary Group

On Wednesday, June 28, Vitório Sorotiuk, President of the Ukrainian Brazilian Central Representation (UBCR), met with Senator Flávio Arns (PSB-PR), Chair of the Brazil-Ukraine Parliamentary Group. Sergio Jose Maciura, President of the Brazil-Ukraine Chamber of Industry, Commerce, and Innovation, and members of the Chamber’s team also joined the meeting. 

During the conversation, the participants discussed the initiatives of the Brazilian Ukrainian community and the opportunities for economic cooperation between Brazil and Ukraine. 

Vitório Sorotiuk called on Senator Arns to support UBCR’s initiative to organize a special hearing and a meeting with representatives of the Brazilian Ukrainian community at the President’s Office. He also presented the Senator with an official letter from the Ukrainian Brazilian Central Representation and the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) to leaders of the Brazil-Ukraine Parliamentary Group. 

In the letter, the UBCR and the UWC greeted the leadership of the Brazil-Ukraine Parliamentary Group with the official start of their work. The two organizations expressed confidence that the Group would help establish closer ties between the peoples of Brazil and Ukraine and would also intensify political dialog and coordination between the two nations. 

On behalf of their organizations, Vitório Sorotiuk and Paul Grod also thanked Brazil for its attention to Ukraine, its efforts to find a peaceful solution and its consistent support of Ukraine’s position in the United Nations. At the same time, the two leaders expressed concerns about some Brazilian politicians’ attempts to put the aggressor (Russia) and the victim (Ukraine) on an equal scale. “It is Ukraine that was brutally attacked, and against which Russia is waging a genocidal war of aggression aimed at extermination of Ukrainians,” wrote Sorotiuk and Grod. 

“Just like Ukrainians, Brazilians know very well what freedom means and what freedom costs. Today, we must unite our efforts to defend freedom globally and stop Russia’s imperialist neo-colonial war against Ukraine. Holding the aggressor state responsible for its heinous crimes, such as the recent destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, which became the biggest ecocide crime ever committed in Europe, is another crucial issue,” reads the official letter.