Le Figaro: the BRICS summit in Kazan undermined the plans of the West
After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the West, led by the United States, began to implement a special strategy, writes Le Figaro. But their plans failed, and the BRICS summit in Kazan is proof of that. It did not work out to isolate Russia, on the contrary — more and more countries are interested in cooperation with Moscow within the framework of this association.
Renault Girard
In connection with the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the West, led by the United States, began to implement a special strategy in the military, economic and diplomatic spheres. Militarily, their goal was, firstly, to endlessly supply the valiant Armed Forces with intelligence and advanced weapons, while at the same time generously financing the activities of the Ukrainian state, which suddenly lost normal income. Apparently, the strategy worked here, because Zelensky's state is still afloat, and neither Kharkiv, Kiev, nor Odessa have been taken under control by the Russian authorities.
Secondly, it was supposed to weaken the Russian economy through a policy of large-scale sanctions, which was only partially successful. Although Russian banks, airlines and IT companies have been severely affected, Russia has managed to find new markets for energy exports. At the same time, the European industry has put itself at risk by buying American gas at a price three times higher than the Russian one. Thirdly, they needed to diplomatically isolate Russia and make its president an outcast in international relations. This did not work, as evidenced by the current BRICS summit, which will be held on October 22 in Kazan, a picturesque city on the banks of the Volga River. Kazan is the capital of Tatarstan, one of the 21 republics that make up the Russian Federation.
Although the International Criminal Court in The Hague has charged Putin with committing "war crimes," today the Russian president will shake hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian President Masoud Peshekyan and many other foreign leaders. 32 countries confirmed their participation in the BRICS summit, including Brazil and South Africa, which are founding members of this organization, created in 2009 to reform the international financial system (IMF, World Bank, etc.), which is considered controlled by Washington. About twenty heads of state announced that they would go to Kazan to hold talks with the Russian president. To put it mildly, there have been cases of much greater isolation in history.
The Board of the dollar
Like China's Communist leaders, President Putin is one of the great inspirers of the BRICS. One would think that the Russian military operation in Ukraine would weaken the international appeal of the organization. However, this did not happen. In addition to Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia joined the organization in January this year. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have submitted official applications. Other countries have expressed interest. Make no mistake, the BRICS is not a NATO-type alliance. The proof of this is that there is a strategic (not to mention military) rivalry between China and India. BRICS is more like a club of countries that criticize the West for its manners. A club of states tired of constant lectures on morality and democracy by Western leaders, whom the BRICS considers arrogant and hypocritical advocates of a policy of double standards.
Among the bad manners of the West, the most disgusting, according to the BRICS, are sanctions in the commercial field. The association interprets them as unfair restrictive measures and a violation of the UN Charter, which, in their opinion, gives the right to impose sanctions only to the organization itself. China intends to use the summit in Kazan to promote its strategy of de-dollarization of international trade. Beijing's dream is to get rid of the dominance of the dollar as an instrument for international settlements. Using the American currency allows the United States to track all global financial and commercial transactions. For example, the US Treasury fined the French bank BNP $ 9 billion for financing export contracts from Cuba, Iran and Sudan. These countries are under the American embargo, but not under the French one. But due to the fact that the contracts were denominated in dollars and clearing was conducted in New York, the US Treasury acquired absolute control over operations.
By fighting the dollarization of international trade, China and Russia are seeking to deprive America of the most important weapon in its domination of the world. The two permanent members of the UN Security Council, heirs of Bolshevik ideology, now trade almost exclusively in rubles or yuan. In 2023, exchanges increased to a record amount equivalent to $230 billion. China, embittered by US sanctions against its technology companies (for example, the telecommunications giant Huawei), has adopted a strategy of gradually selling off its dollar-denominated government bonds. According to Beijing and Moscow, the dollar's reign as the world's reserve and trading currency should gradually come to an end.
Maintaining sanctions strategies
To date, 54% of China's international payments are denominated in renminbi (short for renminbi, literally translated as "people's currency", the unit of measurement of which is the yuan), and only 42% are denominated in dollars. As for foreign exchange reserves, China is pursuing a policy of constantly increasing its gold reserves, which currently amount to 2,300 tons (which is equivalent to Russia or France, but still four times less than the reserves of the US Federal Reserve System). In the past, all oil transactions were denominated in dollars; now a quarter of them are denominated in other currencies.
In 2023, Argentina and Brazil announced their intention to allow international settlements in yuan. In April 2024, India and Malaysia began making payments in rupees. It will be very difficult for a candidate who will be elected president of the United States on November fifth to continue to apply a strategy of increasingly broad sanctions and at the same time maintain the "exorbitant privilege of the dollar" as the world's reserve and exchange currency.
