Russia hosts BRICS summit to push new world order agenda to compete with West | Real Time Headlines

Russia rolled out the red carpet to its geopolitical allies on Tuesday as it hosted the latest BRICS summit, pushing its agenda to create a “new world order” that challenges the West.

Originally made up of Brazil, Russia, India and China, South Africa joined in 2010, giving the organization its name. It has since evolved into a geopolitical forum for the most powerful countries in the world outside the West.

The BRIC countries now have greater clout after Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates joined the group in January, a move that is important for countries seeking to boost trade, investment and economic development. Become an attractive prospect.

Russia has been trying to attract countries collectively known as the “Global South” – the economically developing countries of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America – in contrast to the “Global North” of industrialized countries, traditionally led by the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin often talks about his ambitions Establishing what he calls a “New World Order” Compete with Western countries led by the United States and usurp geopolitical and economic advantages.

Russia, which holds the rotating chair of the BRICS, is economically isolated and is subject to severe Western sanctions, can also use this year’s summit to prove that it is still respected on the global stage and has strong allies willing to turn a blind eye to its ongoing war. Ukraine.

Putin described the strengthening of the BRICS as “a strong sign of the growing authority of the organization and its role in international affairs” and said on Friday that he intended to do so through a so-called “BRICS+” format. Challenge the West.

“The countries in our alliance are essentially the driving force behind global economic growth,” Putin told officials and businesspeople at the BRICS business forum in Moscow on Friday. “In the foreseeable future, BRICS will be the global The main driving force for GDP growth.

“The economic growth of the BRICS countries will rely less and less on external influence or interference. This is essentially economic sovereignty,” Putin added.

At the beginning of October, Putin said that Moscow was willing to use the summit to discuss with allies “the parameters of interaction in the emerging multipolar world” and to discuss the establishment of a new world order with all our friends, partners and like-minded people. ,” he said, According to Russian state-owned news agency TASS.

“It is in this spirit that we are preparing for the BRICS and Outreach/BRICS+ Summit,” Putin added, referring to the final day of the three-day summit with representatives from nearly 40 Asian, African and Officials from , Middle East and Latin American countries spoke at the meeting.

One security analyst told CNBC that the expansion of the BRICS alliance is both important and productive.

Callum Fraser, a researcher on Russia and Eurasian security at the Royal United Services Institute, said: “This indicates a collective movement away from the West and a fundamental shift in the world order that seeks to challenge Western economic hegemony.” (RUSI ) think tank told CNBC on Monday.

Fraser added, “It is unclear to what extent BRICS+ will be able to challenge the Western-dominated G7, or even to what extent they will be able to adapt their vision for the international system.”

“Currently, the main glue that holds them together is the desire to achieve the same quality of life as the West, but they believe this cannot be achieved by cooperating with the West. Ultimately, BRICS+ is only anti-Western because it serves as What this means for BRICS+ to offer its member states remains to be seen, but the possibility of greater cooperation among member states is highly likely.

Fraser added that Russia’s hosting of the summit would “maximize Russia’s strong position in this emerging order.”

It’s unclear whether the elephant in the room – Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine – will be acknowledged at the summit. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Izvestia newspaper that the conflict in Ukraine was not on the agendabut insisted that participants could “raise the issue at their own discretion,” according to Google Translate.

The Kremlin seemed keen to avoid mentioning its “special military operations” in Ukraine and said the “BRICS+” discussions would focus on “pressing international issues, with a particular focus on the escalating situation in the Middle East and interactions between BRICS countries” and the world. Sustainability interests in the South.

Putin will meet with a number of leaders attending the conference, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are expected to sign a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement” at the summit, which could signal their commitment to deepening military and defense cooperation. The two sides previously exchanged military and technical support for several years during the war in Ukraine.

Meetings with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi are also scheduled to take place this week. According to comments Putin’s foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva canceled a trip to Russia after he suffered a head injury in an accident at his home over the weekend.

Saudi Arabia, which has been invited to join the BRICS grouping but has not officially joined, is also participating in the latest summit in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan. Argentina decided not to join the organization in 2023, citing changes in foreign policy.