Between next week and next month, the world will Watch two diplomatic summits that will gather some of the planet’s most powerful political leaders.
In both these events, a character is standing out for his relevance and controversy: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
Putin has decided not to join the G20 meeting to avoid derailing the important discussions there – and potentially cause chaos in Brazil between Lula da Silva’s administration and those who would defend that Brazilian police try to implement the ICC’s arrest against him.
But to extrapolate that decision into a proof of his isolation would be misguided because next week, he will host 32 countries in the BRICS summit and hold no less than 17 bilateral meetings with other country’s leaders at the event in Kazan.
Reuters reported:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday his possible attendance at next month’s summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Brazil would disrupt the important work there, adding that somebody else would represent Moscow there.”
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest over what they allege are war crimes in Ukraine.
Needless to say, not Russia, not the US or China recognize this international court, which says enough about its real relevance.
Kyiv has urged Brazil – who, as a very minor player, recognizes the ICC – to arrest the Russian leader if he travels there for the Nov. 18-19 summit, but that would plunge the country into a veritable civil war – not to mention subject it to catastrophic retaliation by Russia.
“’I have wonderful friendly relations with President Lula, but why would I go there on purpose to disrupt the normal work of this forum,’ Putin told reporters, referring to Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.”
Putin also mentioned that Russia could sign a ‘bilateral agreement’ with Brazil to bypass the ICC’s arrest warrant if that proved vital.
“’Decisions of this kind are very easy to circumvent, it is enough to sign an intergovernmental agreement, and that’s it – the jurisdiction of the ICC will be limited,’ Putin said.”
Needless to say, Russia, which is not a signatory to the ICC, strongly denies the allegations of war crimes made against it by the court, Ukraine and its Western allies.
But before the world leaders gather in Brazil in November, a mere three days from now (from 22 to 24 October), the BRICS group and a host of hopefuls will gather in the Russian city of Kazan.
Putin has declared yesterday (17) that the newly enlarged BRICS will ‘generate most of the global economic growth in the coming years’ because of its larger size and relatively fast growth compared with that of the developed G7 Western nations.
BRICS has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the previous members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Putin sees it as a powerful Global South counterweight to the West in global politics and trade.
In a second Reuters report, Putin is quoted as saying:
“’The countries in our association are essentially the drivers of global economic growth. In the foreseeable future, BRICS will generate the main increase in global GDP’, Putin told officials and businessmen at BRICS business forum in Moscow.
‘”The economic growth of BRICS members will increasingly depend less on external influence or interference. This is essentially economic sovereignty,’ Putin added.”
The summit is clear evidence that Western efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine have not prospered.
And dedollarization is the name of the game, as Russia wants to work with other countries to overhaul the global financial system to end the dominance of the U.S. currency.
“China, India and the UAE confirmed on Friday that their leaders would attend the summit in Kazan. Putin said 30 countries around the world had expressed interest in cooperation with the BRICS grouping and that next week’s summit would consider possible options for the group’s further enlargement. “The doors are open, we are not barring anyone,” Putin told reporters from BRICS countries.”
Russia has outlined some initiatives ahead of the summit, such as a joint cross-border payments system and a reinsurance company.
“Putin said that group members were working on a SWIFT-like financial messaging system immune to Western sanctions and the use of national digital currencies in financing investment projects with high growth potential inside and outside BRICS. He stressed that Russia’s financial initiatives for the summit implied the extensive use of national currencies, while talk of creating a single currency for the BRICS grouping was ‘premature.’”
BRICS’ New Development Bank is expected to ‘invest in technology and infrastructure across the countries of the Global South.’
“’As a development institution, the bank already serves as an alternative to many Western financial mechanisms, and we will naturally continue to develop it,’ Putin said. He called for more investment in e-commerce and artificial intelligence.”
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