PREVIEW: BRICS summit to begin in South Africa
SOCIETY: SOUTHAFRICA-BRICS-SUMMIT
JOHANNESBURG, August 22. /TASS/. The 15th summit of the BRICS group of nations, bringing together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will begin in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
The event, chaired by South Africa, will be held under the theme ‘BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism.’
The summit’s chairman, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, has also sent invitations to over 60 heads of states and governments from Africa and developing nations from other regions of the world. The summit will continue for three days.
On the final day of the summit, a meeting in the Friends of BRICS format will be held. South Africa expects the event to become a forum of the Global South, aimed at multiplying its international clout and promoting the reform of the entire system of international relations. At the same time, South Africa views BRICS as the leader of the Global South, which spearheads the process of creating a fairer world order.
Russia’s participation
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to address the summit. Although he will not travel to Johannesburg, he will join his colleagues via a video linkup. The Kremlin has underscored that although Putin will not be physically present at the event, he will nevertheless participate in the scheduled activities in full.
Officials from the South Africa, the summit’s host nation, also reaffirmed on many occasions that Putin would have an opportunity to participate in all sessions and negotiations with other heads of states. They added that there was nothing unusual about this format of attendance, adding that "over the past years, numerous BRICS sessions and meetings were held in the online format."
The Foreign Ministry of South Africa said earlier that the format of Putin’s participation was chosen in consensus by all the five BRICS leaders.
On March 17, the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president, alleging that he was responsible for "unlawful deportation" and transfer of population, including children, from Ukraine to Russia. Moscow earlier pointed out that since Russia was not a party to the ICC Rome Statute, the court’s decisions were legally void for the country. Russia also stated that the court had proven to be a flawed entity by the fact that it was ready to deliver justice on the West’s orders, so its activities were about anything but real justice.
South Africa’s BRICS Sherpa Anil Sooklal said that in the context of the summit, Russia chose not to create problems for the host nation in connection with the warrant.
Addressing the Russia-Africa summit in late July, the Russian president expressed hope that the BRICS meeting will be held at the highest possible level, adding that Moscow, on its part, will do everything to facilitate this goal. Later, Putin told reporters that at this point, his presence in Russia at this point was more important than personal attendance of the BRICS summit. He emphasized that he remained in touch with all BRICS partners.
BRICS dialogue culture
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will represent Russia in person during the BRICS summit in Johannesburg. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, Moscow used this format of participation in summits "on multiple occasions." On August 20, the top Russian diplomat discussed preparations for the summit with other BRICS foreign ministers, addressing ways to develop and strengthen the strategic partnership of the five nations.
Lavrov said in an article for South Africa’s Ubuntu Magazine, published in...
ТАСС 22.08.2023, 07:39 MSK