Putin declares BRICS summit a sign of the rising multipolar world

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the BRICS is proof that a “multipolar world is emerging,” threatening to dethrone the US Speaking at the BRICS summit he’s hosting in Kazan, Putin explained that he believes:

“BRICS meets the aspirations of the main part of the international community, the so-called world majority. It is especially in demand in the current conditions, when truly dramatic changes are taking place in the world, and the process of forming a multipolar world is underway.”

BRICS recently expanded to include the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia. More than 30 countries, including Thailand, Algeria, and NATO’s own Turkey, are eyeing membership, said Putin.

Rising influence of BRICS

Putin pointed out that the interest from nations in the Global South and East is too big to ignore. But he added a note of caution, saying BRICS needs to “maintain a balance” if it brings more countries into the fold.

While the official summit talks were underway, Putin was scheduled to hold separate meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian. He was also seen having many friendly moments with India’s Narendra Modi and China’s Xi Jinping, a man he calls his best friend.

BRICS is no small player. Together, the nine member nations now account for 26% of the global economy and 45% of the world’s population. In contrast, the Group of Seven (G7), which includes America and its buddies, controls 44% of global GDP but represents only 10% of population.

BRICS’ Brazil is hosting the next G-20 summit, following India’s presidency last year, with South Africa set to lead in 2025. Russia has been hammered by US-led sanctions ever since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

To soften the blow on Russia’s economy, Putin has been pushing BRICS to trade in their own currencies instead of the US dollar. Or just use a common currency for trade within the bloc.

Currency shift and internal conflicts

Not everyone in BRICS is fully on board with ditching the dollar though. India, South Africa, and the UAE, aren’t as eager to escape the dollar-based system. They don’t want BRICS to become an anti-US club, but they do support trading in national currencies to some extent.

For the Kremlin, the BRICS summit is a statement to the world: Putin isn’t isolated. Western sanctions and diplomatic pressure haven’t worked.

Last year, Putin skipped the BRICS summit in South Africa after the country warned it would have to comply with an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over war crimes in Ukraine. This year, though, Putin is back in the game to show he’s not actually an outcast.

Jinping is right there with him on the mission to dethrone America and its dollar. In his opening remarks today, Xi said, “There is an urgent need to reform the international financial architecture,” adding that BRICS must lead the charge in building a system that better reflects the current global economic power balance.

China and India keep butting heads

The idea of BRICS challenging the US dollar isn’t new, but it’s still not a reality. Jim O’Neill, the former Goldman Sachs economist who coined the BRIC term in 2001, is skeptical. According to him, the group’s economic potential has been talked about for years, but little action has followed.

O’Neill said that without serious cooperation between China and India, the idea of BRICS rivaling the dollar is nothing but a fantasy. In his own words:

“The idea that BRICS can be some genuine global economic club is a bit out there. I’ll take BRICS seriously when China and India stop confronting each other and actually agree on something.”

China’s economic weight dominates the group, but without cooperation from India, BRICS can’t truly challenge the existing global order. India and China, which had their first formal talks in five years during this summit, have been at odds since a border clash in 2020.

Putin remains in the middle, maintaining a seemingly close friendship with both nations.