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Brazil is Not Working With US on Amazon Wildfires - Defence Minister

© REUTERS / Nacho DoceAn aerial view of a tract of Amazon jungle burning as it is being cleared by loggers and farmers near the city of Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil September 23, 2013. Picture taken September 23, 2013.
An aerial view of a tract of Amazon jungle burning as it is being cleared by loggers and farmers near the city of Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil September 23, 2013. Picture taken September 23, 2013.   - Sputnik International
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Earlier, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he had authorised the use of federal troops and equipment to contain the fires in the Amazon rainforest.

The United States is not providing Brazil with concrete support to fight forest fires despite President Donald Trump's offer of assistance, Brazilian Defence Minister Fernando Azevedo said on Saturday.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump offered to help Brazil contain the fires in the Amazon. "We stand by ready to assist!", he tweeted. Bolsonaro retweeted Trump's message shortly after. However, according to Defence Minister Fernando Azevedo, there has been no further contact between the two countries regarding the fires.

© REUTERS / Ueslei MarcelinoAn aerial view of a deforested plot of the Amazon near Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil August 22, 2019
Brazil is Not Working With US on Amazon Wildfires - Defence Minister - Sputnik International
An aerial view of a deforested plot of the Amazon near Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil August 22, 2019

French President Emmanuel Macron also took to Twitter earlier this week to urge the G7 leaders to discuss the Amazon fires at the group's summit in the French resort city of Biarritz that started on Saturday and will last through Monday.

The Amazon rainforest has been on fire for three weeks now. According to satellite data provided by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE), there has been a more than 80 percent increase in the number of wildfires in 2019 compared with last year.

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