Political Situation in Brazil 'Won't Affect Country's Ties With Moscow'

The interim government of Michel Temer has been in power in Brazil for the last three months. In an exclusive interview with Sputnik Brazil, Russian Ambassador to Brazil Sergey Akopov commented on the future of Russia-Brazil relations amid the possible impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

According to Akopov, the Russian side is closely watching the development of the political situation in Brazil. He expressed his hopes that Brazil will be able to soon overcome the current political crisis.

"Brazil is our important strategic partner, and we sincerely wish the Brazilian people to overcome their domestic political difficulties within the existing constitutional framework as soon as possible and to continue with further development of the country," the diplomat said.

Akopov assumed that the political situation in Brazil won't seriously affect Russian-Brazilian relations, because these relations are "of interstate, and not of ideological nature."

"We are ready to build relations with any government the Brazilian people will choose. As far as I know, the same position is being shared by the Brazilian side. And this is a guarantee that Russian-Brazilian relations won't depend on internal disturbances and are unlikely to suffer any major changes. We expect they will continue to evolve," the Ambassador stated.

In May, the upper house of the Brazilian parliament voted 55-22 to start impeachment proceedings against Rousseff after she was accused of concealing the country's budget deficit ahead of the 2014 re-election. Rousseff regards the impeachment proceedings as a coup attempt.

Rousseff has been suspended from office for 180 days, pending trial. Vice President Michel Temer is assuming presidency during that period.

Commenting on the recent reports about delays in the impeachment procedure due to the upcoming Olympic Games, Akopov refrained from making any forecasts.

"The Brazilian side assured that everything will be at the highest level, that everything will be well organized. […] Let's hope that everything goes well. With regard to the voting, there are different reports on the issue. I've heard that the vote should take place sometime in September, after the Olympics, but again, […] that is difficult to predict something. However, I think that Brazilian authorities will make every effort to ensure that the political process in the country would not affect the Olympic Games," the diplomat stated.

Earlier, the International Olympic Committee has asked the Brazilian Senate to postpone a vote on President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment until after the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian Supreme Court earlier announced that the impeachment procedure would begin after the Games' official closure on August 21.