Over the course of two days, beginning on Oct. 22, the international economic alliance BRICS (composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) met in the Russian city of Kazan for the first time since the alliance expanded in 2023. The group sought to discuss economic and developmental issues, which included Russian President Vladimir Putin urging the rest of the alliance to abandon the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) international trading system. (Russia was cut from the system, which is currently used to initiate most international payments, following the invasion of Ukraine. It is centered in Belgium, the same nation that headquarters NATO). The reason behind Putin’s request is to create a new international trading system, led by BRICS, alongside the SWIFT system.
In 2023, the alliance expanded significantly, inviting Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to join, of which only Argentina refused. After the expansion BRICS accounted for more of the world’s purchasing power than the G7, drastically expanding its influence. Though BRICS is a major platform for developing countries, the new members are all regional powers with previously established influence.
The centerpiece of the annual summit was Putin’s wish to take a step further away from the U.S. dollar. During the summit, he claimed that the dollar was being used as a weapon. Putin also stated that over 95% of trade between Russia and China is now conducted with the ruble and the yuan instead of the U.S. dollar. Little progress was made on distancing from the dollar, however: two core member states, India and Brazil, feel apprehensive of going against the West, which they have positive relations with.
The war in Ukraine was the other glaring issue brought up at the summit. A joint Brazil-China peace plan was brought up, though it has already been rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Overall, many countries were in support of Ukraine with only Russia being outwardly against them, and India being the most supportive of Ukraine.
Many nations in the global south wish to join BRICS. However, India and Brazil remain skeptical of adding new members, fearing that the alliance will become an anti-West alliance that vehemently supports Russia and China. Putin has expressed a desire for BRICS to be an anti-West alliance, but this summit has restated that if Putin is to succeed in creating such an alliance, it won’t be as simple as he may think it to be.
