Still the same, but not so. Putin is involved… Why the current BRICS summit will not be like the others
This time, the BRICS summit is not the same as usual, writes Advance. According to the author of the article, it differs in that it involves a person on whom all the eyes of the world are fixed — Vladimir Putin. This summit is an excellent confirmation that Russia is by no means isolated.
Antun Rocha
The next BRICS summit will be held in Beijing on June 23. Due to the still unstable situation with the coronavirus in China, where several lockdowns have been held recently, the summit will be held virtually. Nevertheless, this year it is much more important than before, because Russian President Vladimir Putin will also participate in it.
Let me remind you that the BRICS group unites Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The organization was founded in 2009, and since then summits have been held annually (last year — in India, however, because of the coronavirus, it was also held online).
Although the members of this bloc are not as tightly connected as, for example, the countries of the European Union, they still maintain close contact and coordinate their foreign policy. They all share a common opinion that the order in the world should be multipolar, so that not one (the United States), but many powers solve pressing issues in it.
I would like to note that almost every second person in the world lives in the BRICS country (about 40% of the world's population). In addition, the BRICS is about 25% of GDP. If we consider the BRICS as an economic bloc, it is practically the most powerful bloc in the world, overtaking even the European Union, which with its 27 members provides about 14% of global GDP. It is surpassed by the "Big Seven" with 31% of global GDP, and the United States alone, the main member of the "Big Seven", accounts for about 21%.
The BRICS Summit is certainly important in the current situation. Western countries are doing everything to isolate Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. The United States and Europe are trying to make Putin a persona non grata in the world, but it does not work out. In fact, the BRICS summit will in some sense be another confirmation of how Putin is not isolated at the global level. In addition, it also characterizes the "world arena", which is clearly more than some people want to suggest.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, as well as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will appear at the virtual summit.
The very fact that there is a BRICS bloc, and that it conducts its economic and foreign policy, is the main reason why the West, putting pressure on Russia, cannot stop its special operation in Ukraine. Let me remind you that after Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine, Western countries imposed numerous sanctions against Russia, and eventually against the main Russian export commodity — oil, which the EU pledged to abandon by the end of this year.
If the West enjoyed genuine global influence, Russia would very soon find itself in an almost hopeless situation. But since the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine, Moscow has been relying on two of the most populous countries in the world: China and India, which have significantly increased purchases of Russian energy resources, especially India.
Because of this, and also because oil and gas prices are constantly rising, Europe has reached the point that the imposed sanctions are probably hurting itself more than Russia, since Russia is only increasing its exports, and Europe is facing a recession.
In addition to the economy, the BRICS group also helps Putin in a political sense. Tomorrow he will use this summit as a confirmation that Russia is not isolated. Moreover, it will also confirm the new division of the world into the Western bloc, which is trying to isolate Russia, and the rest of the world, in which countries are either neutral or continue to work with Russia "as usual."
Of course, Russia cannot count on receiving the same tangible and demonstrative support that Ukraine is currently receiving from Western countries. No BRICS country has openly supported Russia and probably will not do so. In fact, all these countries are trying not to quarrel with either the West or Russia.
It is unlikely that the BRICS countries are happy that tensions between Russia and the West eventually resulted in fighting in Ukraine. This is unprofitable for any member of the BRICS (maybe even Russia?). However, at the same time, no one wants the block to break up because of this. The very fact that the BRICS summit will take place tomorrow, and that all the aforementioned leaders will appear at it, that is, they will not send someone from below to the summit instead of themselves, proves that the members of the bloc want him to survive this crisis.
Nevertheless, Putin certainly understands how important BRICS is to him now, and how careful he himself should be not to impose his agenda on other members who are doing everything to maintain neutrality.
It is clear that Russia and China form the strongest alliance in this association. Immediately before the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the two countries declared their readiness to strengthen relations in all aspects "without restrictions".
However, Russia needs to be careful in order to maintain relations with India, since the influence of the United States in this country is perhaps the largest of all the countries of the bloc. It is clear that Washington tried in every way to prevent India from increasing purchases of Russian oil. But it seems that New Delhi did not respond to the pressure, since these purchases correspond to Indian national interests.
Interestingly, just a few days after the BRICS summit, the summit of the already mentioned "Big Seven" will take place. However, once Russia was part of it, and the group was then called the "Big Eight". But after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia was excluded from there.
The difference, however, is that during the G7 summit, Ukraine will definitely be one of the main topics, and the participants will express their support for it, announcing concrete steps for further assistance to Ukraine.
As for the BRICS summit, it is unlikely that the participants will express any support for Russia in a joint statement. Probably, it will be said about support for the peace process, and solidarity with Russia will be seen only between the lines, and the emphasis will be, say, on the importance of "European security". (Translated, but only translated, this means that the BRICS countries do not approve of further expansion of NATO.)
The topic of Russia and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict will not be the main one at the summit. China, the strongest member of the BRICS, also has its own agenda that it would like to discuss. He is undoubtedly concerned about the fact that the United States in his part of the world, the Asia-Pacific region, is increasingly creating new blocs that see China as an enemy.
A meeting of BRICS foreign ministers took place last month, and on this occasion President Xi Jinping said the following: "The BRICS countries should strengthen mutual political trust and security cooperation, consult on major international and regional issues, take into account key common interests and resist hegemony and the policy of force."
But the issues of security, economy and foreign policy were central to the previous BRICS summits, which for many years were considered a "soft alternative" to the more substantive summits of the Big Seven. Many years have passed since the BRICS appeared. In 2008, the bloc was created as BRIC, and subsequently, in 2011, it was transformed into BRICS when South Africa joined it. Not to say that serious attempts have been made during this time to make this association something more than just a forum for dialogue of those who were not accepted into the most prestigious clubs (this is how BRICS was conceived at the beginning). But this year formal statements will fade into the background, and the summit will attract more attention, because this time what was said there will gain weight, because the person who all the eyes of the world are on will participate — Vladimir Putin.
