Putin takes charge of bigger BRICS

Russia assumes chair of BRICS and its new members; Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Russian cities set to benefit.

The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin will host a BRICS event in 2024 - click image for larger view.

BRICS

2024 began with a bang. Russia assumed the one-year rotating chairmanship of BRICS, and the organisation officially expanded its membership to Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Russia will promote its “BRICS People Choosing Life” program which contains a strong element of recognising the identity and cross-nationalism of the members. The first cultural event was “Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi: a unique legacy.”

Two cities beside the Volga River will host major events.

• Nizhny Novgorod, rated the safest city in Russia in 2023, will hold a summer meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers.

• Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, is the location for the annual BRICS summit in October.

Last week, the BRICS New Development Bank announced $5bn for development and infrastructure projects, and loaned Brazil $1bn.

PUTIN’S SPEECH

“On January 1, Russia was passed the baton of the BRICS chairmanship, an association which, according to the decision adopted by the 15^th BRICS Summit in August 2022, now includes 10 countries. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates joined BRICS as new full members which is a strong indication of the growing authority of the association and its role in international affairs.

BRICS is attracting an ever-increasing number of supporters and like-minded countries that share its underlying principles, namely, sovereign equality, respect for the chosen path of development, mutual consideration of interests, openness, consensus, the aspiration to form a multipolar international order and a fair global financial and trade system, and pursuit of collective solutions to top challenges of our time.

The Russian 2024 BRICS Chairmanship under the motto Strengthening Multilateralism for Equitable Global Development and Security will act precisely in this manner and focus on positive and constructive cooperation with all countries concerned.

We will spare no effort to ensure that, while preserving traditions and being guided by the experience gained by the association in years past, we facilitate the harmonious integration of new participants in all formats of its activities.

Of course, we will consider the degree to which many other countries, about 30 of them, are prepared to join the BRICS multidimensional agenda in one form or another. To this end, we will start working on the modalities of a new category of BRICS partner country.

In general, Russia will continue to promote all aspects of the BRICS partnership in three key areas: politics and security, economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian contacts.

Naturally, we will focus on enhancing foreign policy coordination among the member countries and on jointly seeking effective responses to the challenges and threats to international and regional security and stability.

We will contribute to the practical implementation of the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2025 and the Action Plan for BRICS Innovation Cooperation 2021–2024 for ensuring energy and food security, enhancing the role of BRICS in the international monetary system, expanding interbank cooperation and expanding the use of national currencies in mutual trade.

Our priorities include promoting cooperation in science, high technology, healthcare, environmental protection, culture, sports, youth exchanges, and civil society.

In total, over 200 events of different levels and types will be held in many Russian cities as part of the chairmanship. We encourage representatives of all countries interested in cooperating with our organisation to take part in them. The BRICS Summit in Kazan in October will be the culmination of our chairmanship.

As Russia assumes its chairmanship, it looks forward to working productively with all countries in the BRICS orbit.”

Kazan Kremlin will host the BRICS summit in October 2024 - click image for larger view.

THE 2024 WORLD FRIENDSHIP GAMES

The 2024 World Friendship Games will be held in Russia in September, just after the Paris Olympics. Although not a BRICS event, its aimed at them and others seeking the multipolar world.

Its notable that the friendly logo depicts a handshake over a globe showing Africa, Asia and Russia i.e., the USA and Europe are not the centre of the world (as they were depicted the past 78 years).

The Games also seek to increase Russia’s standing after its athletes have been kicked out of many Western-controlled sporting events. The West is threatening its own athletes with sanctions if they participate. Expect debates at the United Nations.