The anti-American BRICS coalition, led this year by rotating president Russia, will convene its leaders on Tuesday, and the summit will focus on creating a parallel economic system without the dollar, the ongoing conflict in Gaza and what to do. Dozens of countries are participating that wish to join.
Russian strongman President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to welcome the leaders of India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia in the city of Kazan on Tuesday. Brazil, which stands for the acronym BRICS, announced on Monday that Socialist Party President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would not be able to attend the event after suffering a serious head injury after falling in the toilet. Saudi Arabia, which was invited to join BRICS in January but did not ultimately decide to join, plans to send a representative, but Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is not expected to attend.
Joining other leaders are heads of state from countries seeking to join a growing club united in opposition to the exclusively U.S.-led international order. President Putin told reporters in September that 34 countries had expressed interest in joining one or more BRICS members.
among them expected In attendance will be UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the first leader of a NATO member country to be welcomed to the summit. French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly told South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa in 2023 that he was interested in attending the BRICS summit that year, but China and Russia vehemently opposed the idea. did.
Other countries seeking membership include Various countries facing financial difficulties include Zimbabwe, Cuba, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Belarus. Considering that President Putin has explained With the creation of a BRICS currency set out this week as a long-term goal, member states are wary of the potential financial complexities that could burden the group when accepting potential new members. need to be considered.
BRICS is a coalition of countries, primarily led by China, that seeks to subvert the influence of the United States, the G20, NATO, and the larger Western-led world order. Member states routinely find themselves at odds on both bilateral relations and key geopolitical issues. India is often an outlier in this group, facing years of Chinese hostilities near its borders. support Israel after the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023. Meanwhile, other BRICS member states oppose Israel's existence.
Iran, Hamas' top financier, will also be attending the summit, so Israel's self-defense operations in the Gaza Strip are expected to be a top topic of discussion. President Putin's close aide Yuri Ushakov said Reporters reported this week that the first day of the summit will include a members-only meeting to address “the world's most pressing conflict situations,” with Gaza likely to feature prominently. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to attend the summit, will likewise raise the “Israel threat” at the summit, Iran's Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday.
“We will use our participation in the summit to hold diplomatic talks in an effort to draw the attention of the international community to the threats related to the Zionist regime's continued crimes,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghai said, according to the newspaper. I am determined to do so.” Russian News Agency Tas.
All core members of the BRICS coalition are vocally anti-Israel, with the exception of India, which explicitly supports anti-terrorism operations in Gaza and condemns Hamas. The position has put the BRICS at odds since Iran's “Supreme Leader” Khamenei declared India an “enemy of Islam” in September, sparking an furious reaction from New Delhi.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which normalized diplomatic relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords brokered by former US President Donald Trump, is also unlikely to accept Iran's position on Hamas.
Apart from individual geopolitical issues, the Russian government has made it clear that its priority will be the creation of a parallel global payments system to override Western-led human rights sanctions against several BRICS member states. Russia faces significant sanctions on its financial operations, including a ban on the use of the global SWIFT payment system. President Putin at an event on Saturday. said BRICS is reportedly seeking to create an anti-SWIFT regime for member countries and create a new currency to weaken the dollar's use around the world.
“At the moment it (BRICS currency) is a long-term prospect. It is not on the table. BRICS will be cautious and act slowly. The time has not yet come,” Putin said, adding that alternative payment structures are He explained that it is a priority.
“I think the United States needs to consider that by imposing continued sanctions, it is worsening relations with Russia and ultimately having a negative impact on Russia,” Putin said. “So the whole world is thinking about whether the dollar is worth spending.”
Russian officials have repeatedly mentioned creating a parallel payments system as a priority for this week's summit.
“Our task is to create our own independent system, mainly based on the political decisions of Western countries,” Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said this month.
The issue of accepting new members is expected to be more contentious than expanding trade ties between BRICS members, which are heavily sanctioned. Ushakov, Foreign Policy Advisor to President Putin; Conceded a point In early October, current member states have “different views” on accepting new members, and Russia plans to propose the creation of a lower-tier “partnership” status for non-member states wishing to cooperate with BRICS. It was announced that.
China's state-owned Global Times Source of propaganda explained Monday's analysis features new member issue as 'key agenda' item for this week's summit
“According to China Central Television (CCTV), the expanded BRICS have increased to 35.6 percent of global GDP, and their share in global GDP exceeds the Group of Seven (G7) in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).” Global Times he pointed out. BRICS' tendency to tout its economic potential could suffer if some of the poorest countries seeking membership, particularly Cuba and Zimbabwe, succeed.
Some of the new members are already facing financial crisis, including Ethiopia, which defaulted on its debt last year, and Egypt, whose economy has declined after a global attack on ships in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi terrorists. I am doing it. As a result, profits from Suez Canal tolls plummeted.
Meanwhile, major oil-producing states such as Nigeria and Turkey could provide the group with significant diplomatic advantages, as they could provide BRICS with insight into NATO.
