Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing nationalist president of Brazil, commented on the Ukraine-Russian crisis last Monday, saying, “We hope that everything will be solved with tranquility, in harmony.” With a scheduled official trip in February, Bolsonaro expressed intentions of discussing economic topics and agribusiness with President Vladimir Putin. Brazil and Russia share a financial and information-based political relationship as “strategic partners and technological allies.” With heightened tensions due to the military build-up of approximately 100,000 Russian soldiers along the Ukrainian border and the bolstered defenses of NATO allies, a nonviolent solution that prioritizes diplomacy is desperately needed. Bolsonaro’s commentary and involvement offers an additional outlook on the various foreign responses to the current crisis. In further expressing economic interests in the Russian-Brazilian partnership, Brazil’s foreign policy strategy counters the proposed sanctions from the West if Russia invades Ukraine.

Responses from national governments unilaterally express the aversion to military involvement, but the threat of violence remains. With a buildup of U.S. and NATO forces in neighboring countries, the Pentagon clarified that deployments were not permanent and were designed to bolster NATO defenses. President Joe Biden asserted that the U.S. has no intention of deploying U.S. military personnel into Ukraine. Beyond the security measures of military presence, financial incentives play a key role in prompting nonviolent solutions.

Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, said in an interview that “sanctions to deter Russia are already needed,” and that support for Ukraine’s “economic stability” should be included with military aid and active diplomacy. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz leaned towards the imposition of retaliatory sanctions against Russia but rejected the option of shipping weapons to help Ukraine defend itself. French President Emmanuel Macron, who recently had individual meetings with Putin and Zelensky, succinctly made the point that “the geopolitical objective of Russia today is clearly not Ukraine, but to clarify the rules of cohabitation with NATO and the European Union,” he told France’s Le Journal du Dimanche. Despite assurances that Russia has no intention of invading, Putin’s administration has continued to put on displays of power by holding military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea.

Bolsonaro’s commentary and upcoming visit reflect a greater interest in economic strategy than peace negotiations. Where Western powers seek to financially isolate Russia to deter any violent approaches, that economic isolation is likely to result in deepening trade ties with China, Brazil, and other authoritarian regimes. All involved parties have accused the other of planning so-called false flag operations as a pretense for military escalation. For the sake of diplomatic stability and multilateral relations, it is of utmost importance that global leaders enter peace negotiations while giving precedence to the wellbeing of the public, respecting the sovereignty of Ukraine, and scaling back military build-up.

In Latin America, Brazil is one of Russia’s major trading partners, particularly in the field of agricultural products, raw materials, and consumption goods. Aside from agribusiness, Brazil and Russia share a mutual interest in boosting economic ties through other industries. According to Sergey Ladygin, the deputy director general of Rosoboronexport, the only Russian state organization that exports military products and services, “Latin America is one of the most promising regions for Russia in the development of technical-military cooperation.”

Based on a recent report by Seth Jones, director of the U.S. International Security Program, the key to thwarting Russian ambitions is to raise the economic, political, and military costs by imposing economic sanctions, ensuring political isolation from the West, and raising the prospect of a prolonged insurgency against the Russian military. Russia sent a list of demands for security guarantees to the U.S. and claimed that U.S. acceptance of the demands would de-escalate the crisis. Primarily, Russia wants Ukraine to be permanently blocked from becoming a NATO member as well as the withdrawal of NATO forces from Eastern Europe. The ongoing Russian-backed separatist conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine remains one main point of concern in Russo-Ukrainian relations since 2014. These events play into the larger picture of Russo-Ukrainian relations with ongoing conflicts like the invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in early 2014.

Western actors and Russia must take action to reduce tension and to peacefully discuss de-escalation strategies. The Normandy Format, with France and Germany facilitating talks between Russia and Ukraine, would create a space for diplomatic agreements to be made. When President Emmanuel Macron met with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, they had told him they were committed to the principles of a 2014 peace agreement, he said, adding that this deal, known as the Minsk Protocol, offered a path to resolving their ongoing disputes. Moving forward, negotiations must adhere to principles of nonviolent resolutions, demilitarization of borders and international waters, processes for resolving future disputes, and prioritizing the wellbeing of local populations in areas of potential invasion or conflict.