- BRICS Expands with Six New Member Invitations
- BRICS Aims to Champion the Global South
- Putin’s Remote Participation Amidst International Legal Issues
BRICS aspires to champion the ‘Global South,’ and the group, which includes Russia and China, is poised to expand, having extended invitations to Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are among six new members of the BRICS commercial bloc, which aims to challenge the G7.
At its three-day Johannesburg meeting, BRICS—formerly Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—announced the expansion.
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates have been invited to participate. They will be admitted officially on January 1, 2024.
The 2009-founded BRICS aims to represent ‘the global South’ and fight the politically dominating G7. The G7 consists of the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Italy, and Japan.
Under the influence of China and Russia, BRICS officials have refuted claims that the bloc is adopting an anti-Western position.
Its five founding nations have 40% of the world’s population and 30% of its economic production.
“A fresh start for developing nations”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stated at the summit, “BRICS has begun a new chapter in its effort to build a world that is fair, just, and inclusive as well as prosperous.”
President Xi Jinping of China remarked following the announcement, “This membership expansion is historic.” It demonstrates the BRICS countries’ commitment to unity and cooperation with other developing nations.
The initial BRICS expansion is certainly not the last, since 16 more nations have applied to join.
“We have consensus on the first phase of this expansion process. And other phases will follow,” Ramaphosa said at a media briefing.
Four of the five BRICS leaders are attending the annual summit in Johannesburg.
Putin assaults the West remotely due to the possibility of arrest
After the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in March for the abduction of Ukrainian children, Vladimir Putin did not travel.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov represented Russia in Johannesburg, and President Vladimir Putin gave a 17-minute video address on Tuesday.
Putin has not yet confirmed the reports that Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane accident, even though Russia’s authorities claim that Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash.
In a second video appearance at the BRICS summit, the president pledged that Moscow will strengthen its ties with African nations and become a reliable food and petroleum supplier – before aiming Western powers and “neo-liberalism.”
Putin also stated that Russian fuel supplies will assist African nations in minimizing price increases and that the global transition to a low carbon emission economy must be “gradual, balanced, and carefully calibrated.”
He then asserted that former Western colonial powers “seek to solve their problems at the expense of others, continuing to blatantly siphon resources from developing nations.”
“They are attempting to replace the system of international law with their own so-called ‘order’ based on unwritten rules,” he asserted.
