DIPLOMACY
Ukraine will not be a BRICS theme, says Brazilian chancellor
Summit starts this Tuesday and runs until Thursday, in Russia
Published on October 21, 2024 at 4:07 pm
Upon arriving in Russia this Monday morning (21), Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Chancellor Mauro Vieira, was asked by journalists whether Ukraine would be a topic of discussion at the 16th Brics summit, which takes place between this Tuesday ( 22) and Thursday (24).
“Here in the Brics, the theme is Brics cooperation”, replied the Brazilian chancellor. According to Vieira, the agenda is aimed at strengthening the partnership between member countries, which includes Russia which, since February 2022, has been at war against Ukraine.
“BRICS, with its expansion, is a process in formation and the heads of state will discuss all the topics that are on the agenda, which are the new partners and the modalities [de participação no bloco]”, explained the head of the Brazilian delegation.
Asked by journalists about whether Venezuela would have a chance of joining the group as an associate member, Mauro Vieira replied that “all candidate countries have [chance]”.
According to Brazilian diplomats, one of the highlights of this year’s summit is the definition of the criteria for new members to join the bloc, not as permanent members, but as associate members. After defining the criteria, the expectation is that new associate members will be announced.
Minister Mauro Vieira was appointed to represent the country after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suffered a domestic accident on Saturday (19) and doctors recommended that he avoid long trips.
This will be Brics’ first meeting with the new members who joined the bloc this year. Previously formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the Brics now also has Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia as full members.
The Russian government reported that 32 countries confirmed their presence at the event, 23 of which were represented by state leaders.
The bloc’s members should also discuss measures to reduce dependence on the dollar in trade between countries, in addition to actions to strengthen alternative financial institutions to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, controlled mainly by Western powers.
It is estimated that the Brics concentrate around 36% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), surpassing the G7, a group of the largest economies on the planet with the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, which concentrates around 30% of the world’s GDP. . Furthermore, Brics concentrates around 42% of the world’s population.
