The global right has lionized Putin. The Ukraine attack leaves many leaders on awkward footing.

RIO DE JANEIRO — In the hours after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, Brazilians of all ideologies lined up to criticize the aggression. Presidential candidates. Political commentators. The vice president.

Everyone except the politician that matters most in Brazil: President Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, who just last week shook hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and declared Brazil’s solidarity with Russia, didn’t address the attack in his public statements Thursday. Only late in the day did Bolsonaro fully address the issue — and even then, it wasn’t to take sides or apportion blame, but to scold his vice president for speaking out of turn on the matter.