At stake is Argentina’s ability to secure investment, technology transfers, and market access in an increasingly fragmented global system — where, as Brazil demonstrates, strategic autonomy need not mean choosing between East and West, writes Gonzalo Fiore Viani.
The Russia-Brazil-Argentina triangle: Evolving dynamics in South America
As the world transitions toward a multipolar order, Argentina faces a critical foreign policy dilemma: how to engage with Russia without alienating Western partners. While Brazil has successfully navigated this challenge — deepening trade with Moscow while maintaining strong ties to the U.S. — Argentina under President Javier Milei has taken a decidedly different path, rejecting BRICS membership and cooling political relations with Russia.
This article argues that Argentina’s current approach risks isolating the country from emerging economic blocs and strategic opportunities in energy, technology, and food exports. Through a comparative analysis of Brazilian pragmatism and Argentina’s ideological alignment with the West, we examine the costs of disengagement with Moscow and propose pathways for Buenos Aires to recalibrate its Russia policy. At stake is Argentina’s ability to secure investment, technology transfers, and market access in an increasingly fragmented global system — where, as Brazil demonstrates, strategic autonomy need not mean choosing between East and West.
Russia’s engagement with South America’s largest economies — Brazil and Argentina — has followed a fluctuating trajectory, shaped by political shifts and economic necessities. While not as strategically aligned as Moscow’s partnerships with Venezuela or Nicaragua, these relationships remain significant in trade, energy, and multilateral diplomacy.
As the region’s largest economy and a fellow BRICS member, Brazil maintains a deep relationship with Russia. Under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003–2010, 2023 – present), ties have strengthened, particularly in trade and multilateral forums. Russia is a critical supplier of fertilizers to Brazil, which relies heavily on these imports to sustain its massive agribusiness sector. Bilateral trade also includes Russian wheat and oil, though volumes remain modest compared to Brazil’s exchanges with China or the U.S.
The BRICS bloc serves as a key platform for collaboration, with both nations advocating for the group’s expansion and initiatives like de-dollarization in global trade. However, relations cooled during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro (2019–2022), who favored alignment with the West. Despite these fluctuations, Brazil’s pragmatic approach ensures continued cooperation with Russia, especially in areas where their interests converge, such as food security and energy.
Milei’s Western turn: Argentina’s missed opportunities with Russia and BRICS
Argentina’s relationship with Russia has grown notably in recent years, driven by mutual economic and geopolitical interests. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Argentina became one of the largest recipients of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines, solidifying diplomatic goodwill. Beyond health cooperation, Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom has explored opportunities in Argentina’s energy sector, potentially expanding nuclear power infrastructure.
Argentina’s relationship both with Russia and with the BRICS bloc took a dramatic turn under President Javier Milei, marking a stark departure from the previous administration’s foreign policy. While Argentina had been formally invited to join BRICS in 2023 under former President Alberto Fernández (2019–2023), Milei’s government rejected membership shortly after taking office in December of that year. This decision reflects his administration’s firm alignment with the U.S. and Europe, as well as a broader skepticism toward multilateral groups perceived as anti-Western.
Milei justified Argentina’s withdrawal from the BRICS accession process by emphasizing his government’s commitment to “nations that respect freedom” — a clear reference to his pro-Western stance. The move was welcomed in Washington and Brussels but disappointed Moscow and Beijing, which had viewed Argentina as a key partner in expanding BRICS’ influence in Latin America. Russia, in particular, had sought deeper cooperation with Argentina in energy (including Rosatom’s nuclear projects) and agriculture, making the rejection a diplomatic setback.
Milei’s foreign policy has significantly cooled political relations with Russia, though pragmatic economic cooperation persists. While Argentina continues exporting beef and grains to Russia — maintaining a key trade link — high-level diplomatic engagement has weakened. The decision represents a missed opportunity for Argentina to access alternative financing through mechanisms like the BRICS New Development Bank and to expand trade with emerging markets, potentially limiting economic options amid ongoing financial challenges. For Russia, the setback has reinforced a strategic pivot toward more aligned partners in Latin America, particularly Venezuela and Bolivia, though Moscow retains interest in Argentina’s lithium reserves and energy sector as areas of potential cooperation.
On a broader level, Milei’s BRICS refusal underscores Milei’s government’s explicit alignment with Western powers and rejection of multipolar alliances. However, this stance risks isolating Argentina from growing Global South cooperation networks at a time when non-Western economic blocs are gaining influence. For Russia, Argentina’s shift highlights the volatility of partnerships in a region where political changes can rapidly reshape diplomatic landscapes, forcing Moscow to recalibrate its engagement strategies in Latin America. The episode serves as a reminder of how domestic political transitions can disrupt long-term geopolitical alignments, leaving both nations to navigate a more fragmented international order.
Argentina at the crossroads: The strategic case for revitalizing Russia ties
In today’s rapidly shifting global landscape — marked by the decline of the U.S.-led liberal international order and the rise of a multipolar system — Argentina cannot afford to distance itself from key players like Russia. While maintaining ties with the West remains important, isolating Moscow risks leaving Argentina on the sidelines of the new geopolitical and economic alliances shaping the 21st century. Russia, as a central actor in BRICS, the Eurasian Economic Union, and other alternative governance structures, offers Argentina crucial opportunities in energy, technology, and trade that align with its national development goals.
By revitalizing this partnership — particularly in nuclear energy, lithium extraction, and agricultural exports — Argentina can secure investment, technology transfers, and access to emerging markets while preserving its strategic autonomy. Brazil’s successful balancing act between Russia and the West provides a model: engagement need not mean alignment, but rather pragmatic cooperation on shared interests. As the world moves toward multipolarity, Argentina must diversify its partnerships or risk becoming economically and politically marginalized in the new international order.
Argentina stands at a crucial geopolitical crossroads where revitalizing relations with Russia represents both an economic necessity and a strategic opportunity. In today’s increasingly multipolar world, where emerging powers are reshaping global governance and trade networks, Argentina cannot afford to remain disconnected from one of the key architects of this new international order. While maintaining constructive ties with Western nations remains important, the current administration’s reluctance to engage with Moscow risks isolating Argentina from vital economic partnerships and developmental opportunities.
Russia offers Argentina unique advantages that align perfectly with our national priorities — from nuclear energy cooperation that could solve our power deficits to lithium development partnerships that would position us as leaders in the green energy transition. The agricultural sector, Argentina’s economic backbone, stands to gain tremendously from expanded trade with Russia’s massive food import market. Moreover, in a world moving toward alternative financial systems and local currency trade, Russia’s experience in navigating Western sanctions provides valuable lessons for Argentina’s own economic sovereignty.
Argentina could revitalize its engagement with Russia in the energy sector by reopening negotiations with Rosatom, focusing on reactor construction and uranium exploration at the Atucha nuclear plants. Such cooperation would address Argentina’s energy demands while providing Rosatom with a strategic foothold in South America. Additionally, Argentina’s vast lithium reserves — the world’s third-largest — resent a key opportunity for partnership, as Russia seeks to secure critical minerals for its technology and defense industries. By attracting Russian investment in lithium extraction and processing, Argentina could boost its mining sector while establishing safeguards to protect national interests.
Russia’s reliance on food imports due to Western sanctions creates a natural opening for Argentina to expand its agricultural exports. Long-term contracts for beef, wheat, and soybean oil could stabilize trade flows and secure favorable terms for Argentine producers. Furthermore, joint ventures in fertilizer production — combining Russian technology with Argentina’s natural gas resources — could reduce Brazil’s dominance as Russia’s primary fertilizer buyer in the region, fostering a more balanced economic relationship.
To minimize geopolitical friction, Argentina could pursue quiet cooperation with Russia in less contentious areas, such as space technology (e.g., Russia’s GLONASS satellite system) and Antarctic research. Rekindling academic and nuclear research collaborations, including training programs at Argentina’s Bariloche Atomic Center, could also rebuild trust without attracting undue scrutiny. Multilateral forums like the IAEA and WHO provide additional avenues for practical cooperation on issues such as nuclear safety and pandemic preparedness, where geopolitical tensions are less pronounced.
Navigating multipolarity: Why Argentina should follow Brazil’s example
As a BRICS member with stable ties to Russia, Brazil could serve as a bridge for Argentina to engage with Moscow indirectly. While Argentina remains outside BRICS, collaboration with Brazil could facilitate access to BRICS-associated initiatives, such as infrastructure financing through the New Development Bank. Brazil’s pragmatic neutrality — maintaining relations with both Russia and the West — offers a model for Argentina to follow, prioritizing trade with Russia in key sectors like fertilizers while avoiding overt political alignment that might strain relations with the U.S.
The Brazilian case demonstrates clearly that it is possible to square this diplomatic circle: while maintaining 28% of its trade with the US, Brazil has increased its trade with Russia by 67% since 2020, particularly in fertilizers (35% of total imports) and fuels. This intelligent triangulation allowed Brasilia to access Russian space technology for its defense program, without affecting its participation in trade agreements with the West.
By adopting a pragmatic, interest-driven approach, Argentina can rebuild ties with Russia in strategic sectors without compromising its broader foreign policy objectives, ensuring a balanced and sustainable partnership.By focusing on concrete economic projects — energy, agriculture, and technology — and leveraging Brazil’s BRICS bridge, Argentina can revive relations with Moscow while preserving its strategic autonomy. Milei’s government could frame such engagement as purely transactional, emphasizing Argentina’s right to diversify partnerships for national development.
For Russia, a pragmatic Argentina could be a valuable partner. If Buenos Aires can balance its Western alignment with selective cooperation, it may secure economic benefits without diplomatic isolation.
The Brazil-Argentina-Russia triangle, if carefully managed, could even emerge as a stabilizing force in a fracturing global order.
As the liberal international order gives way to a more complex, multipolar system, Argentina must adopt a more nuanced foreign policy approach. Strategic engagement with Russia doesn’t represent a rejection of the West, but rather an acknowledgment of new global realities and an assertion of Argentina’s right to pursue diversified partnerships in service of national development. The opportunity exists — what’s needed now is the political vision to seize it.
Views expressed are of individual Members and Contributors, rather than the Club's, unless explicitly stated otherwise.