Saudi Arabia has never finalized its membership in the BRICS economic and political union, a South African diplomat confirmed to Russian media on Tuesday.
“Saudi Arabia is still going through its own process,” South African Ambassador to Russia Mzubukile Geoff Maketka said in comments to Russian news agencies. Tas, Published on Tuesday. “One as a nation-state. Second, with the shepherds of the BRICS. Saudi Arabia doesn’t support it yet, it doesn’t support it yet.”
“We’ll see that as we go along.” [the summit in] Kazan. As South Africans, we are ready,” he added. Kazan, Russia, is scheduled to host the 2024 BRICS summit.
Saudi Arabia is one of six countries invited by BRICS to join the alliance in 2023. Four of the remaining five countries – Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – accepted the invitation, while Argentina declined the invitation. The invitation follows the election of President Javier Millei in November. Maquetuca confirmed that the four new member states have been fully integrated into the federation, with Argentina leaving the process completely as of February.
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BRICS is an alliance named after its original members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which nominally aims to expand the global influence of these countries, independent of the influence of the United States and other Western countries. The purpose is to expand your power. In practical terms, this alliance helps countries organize against human rights atrocities committed by their regimes against global action and, thanks to the support of BRICS allies, faces serious action by the United Nations. This would be a particularly useful boon for genocidal China and war criminal state Russia. Small countries then bought them with promises of economic cooperation.
This alliance is tenuous as some member states have bilateral disagreements that constantly threaten the enterprise as a whole. India in particular is a staunch ally of the United States, which has taken military action against China multiple times since 2020, as it pursues domestic policies intended to counter China’s dominance of global manufacturing. This poses a geopolitical challenge for the Alliance. Brazil became a troubled member state during the tenure of conservative President Jair Bolsonaro, who took office on a promise to contain Chinese influence but ultimately succumbed to economic pressure.
Relations between South Africa and Russia have been experiencing tension since 2023, with the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing a warrant for strongman Vladimir Putin and South Africa, as a member state, not allowing him to be arrested if he visits. I had no choice but to do so. As a result, President Putin did not attend the 2023 BRICS summit in South Africa.
The addition of countries with major economic deficiencies, such as Egypt and Ethiopia, could complicate management and reduce economic strength. Of the four newly confirmed members, only the UAE has joined BRICS with a strong economic portfolio, and the share of BRICS countries in global oil trade is increasing dramatically. .
Saudi Arabia’s membership in BRICS alongside its arch-geopolitical adversary Iran has always been a precarious prospect. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in 2022 that Riyadh had contacted the organization before news broke that Iran had committed a similar act. Beijing sought to quell future discord within the BRICS by presiding over talks that would lead to normalization of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh in March, five months before the BRICS announced it would invite the two countries to join the alliance. did.
Saudi Arabia participates in BRICS events, and Saudi state television claimed it was a member state in January, but social media mysteriously posted about related reports. Had disappeared Shortly after, according to Reuters. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first attended a BRICS event in November. The meeting was aimed at addressing the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7 massacre of Israeli civilians. At that meeting, the crown prince advocated for the world to create a “Palestinian state” from Israel with “East Jerusalem as its capital.”
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During the World Economic Forum Summit in January, Reuters report The anonymous source said Saudi Arabia is not yet a full member of BRICS and is “still considering” an invitation.
“Saudi Arabia will evaluate the benefits and then make a decision, and the process is ongoing,” one of the sources said.
Joining BRICS would likely alienate Saudi Arabia from the United States. Relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States have deteriorated significantly during the tenure of leftist President Joe Biden. promised He ran as a presidential candidate in 2019 to turn America’s allies into “pariahs” in the wake of the brutal murder of Islamist writer Jamal Khashoggi. Biden has repeatedly tried to reverse his declaration, including on a humiliating visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2022, during which Mohammed bin Salman, far away, greeted Biden with a fist pump. Anonymous rumors after the meeting said the millennial prince mocked Biden’s “insight” and openly said he preferred Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greets President Joe Biden with a fist pump upon his arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on July 15, 2022 (Saudi Press Agency, Associated Press)
The news that Saudi Arabia has not yet fully integrated into BRICS comes as Trump, who is seeking a second term in the Oval Office against Biden, is mounting a formidable challenge to the incumbent, threatening even his control of the vote. The report follows the release of several opinion polls showing that In states with a large number of Democrats.Americans will go to the polls to choose their president in three months, in November. rear 2024 BRICS Summit.
