BRICS summit in Russia aims to defy Western influence
Vladimir Putin organized a meeting in Russia for the leaders of countries that support him. The BRICS group summit aims to demonstrate to the West that pressure on Russia is not yielding results, as foreign media assess.
12:49 PM EDT, October 22, 2024
The name BRICS comes from the acronyms of the founding member countries Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Over time, the group has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
The meeting, which will take place in Kazan, western Russia, from October 22 to 24, will be attended by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—all key partners of Russia.
The main topic of discussion is Putin's idea for a BRICS-led payment system intended to compete with SWIFT, the international financial network that Russian banks were cut off from in 2022. The country leaders will also discuss the escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
Putin wants to challenge "Western hegemony"
The Kremlin has presented this meeting as a "diplomatic triumph." Moscow hopes that this alliance will challenge "Western hegemony."
The British BBC suggests envisioning yourself as Vladimir Putin, facing Western condemnation for the invasion of Ukraine, with sanctions isolating your country's economy and an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. One strategy might be to host a summit to demonstrate that these pressures are ineffective.
"Putin, who ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, wants the BRICS summit to showcase the rising clout of the non-Western world," Reuters assesses.
