The summit of just over 50 senior figures is the first between Brussels and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) since 2015, with a stalled trade deal also on the agenda.
"We need our close friends to be at our side in these uncertain times," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said, welcoming Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ahead of the talks.
Von der Leyen promised that Europe would invest 45 billion euros in the Latin American economy under the Global Gateway programme, Brussels' answer to China's "Belt and Road" outreach to developing economies.
But the Europeans had also hoped to convince their transatlantic opposite numbers to sign up to a stern denunciation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- only to be disappointed, with negotiations over the language of a joint declaration continuing late Monday.
- Devastating war -
Summit host Charles Michel, representing EU leaders as president of the European Council, opened the first session urging delegates to condemn Russia's "illegal war".
"Every country on this planet must be safe. And that's why Russia must not be allowed to succeed," he said, arguing that in addition to hurting Ukrainians the invasion has had "devastating consequences for food security, energy prices and the global economy."
CELAC's president, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, insisted the summit was not the place to discuss Ukraine, arguing that the war should be brought to a negotiated end even if "not entirely satisfactory to each party".
"I am aware that member states of the European Union may have an understandable preoccupation with the situation in Ukraine," he said.
"But this summit ought not to become another unhelpful battleground for discourses on this matter, which has been and continues to be addressed in other more relevant forums."
The 33 nations of Latin America and the Caribbean have no agreed position on the Ukraine war, and some want to protect ties with Russia or to seek a compromise peace deal.
Lula spoke for many on the CELAC side when he denounced the conflict as a failure of global diplomacy rather than a unilateral aggression.
"Resorting to sanctions and blockades, without the protection of international law, only serves to penalise the most vulnerable populations," he said, perhaps implicitly damning both the West's bid to crush the Russian economy and Moscow's block on Ukraine's grain exports.
Instead of addressing Ukraine, some CELAC delegates will prefer to push for the implementation of the 2019 EU-Mercosur trade deal, which has stalled on European concerns about deforestation and agricultural competition.
Three years after agreeing the deal liberalising trade between the EU and Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, it has yet to be ratified by several European governments.
Some capitals had hoped that the summit, held under Spain's EU presidency, would bring new momentum on the Mercosur deal, but diplomats from both blocs were clear that no breakthrough on trade was expected at the two-day talks.
- Amazon deforestation -
The first signs of trouble for the trade deal came under Brazil's former right-wing populist government, with then-president Jair Bolsonaro unleashing a wave of agricultural development in the Amazon.
Bolsonaro -- an admirer of US President Donald Trump -- has since been replaced by leftist Lula da Silva, who has better green credentials.
But Europe's relief was short-lived, Brazil has pushed back against Europe's bid to attach binding rules against deforestation in an annex to the Mercosur trade pact.
"The defence of environmental values, which we all share, cannot be an excuse for protectionism," Lula told the summit, vowing that Brazil would halt deforestation by 2030, but insisting that balanced economic development must continue.
"The world needs to be concerned about the right to live well for the inhabitants of the Amazon," he said.
In 2020, the EU adopted its so-called Green Deal, which was not aimed at Latin America in particular, but binds its trade deals to tougher environmental standards.
In March, the EU presented a set of proposals to update the Mercosur deal, including binding limits on deforestation, with trade consequences -- triggering Brazil and Argentina's anger.
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